Tides of the Soul: A Pokémon SoulSilver Nuzlocke
by KeybladeWar15
Summary: Prequel to Ideals of Darkness. Ritsu is excited to finally begin her Pokémon journey, but little does she know of the trials and grief that will come her way! Based on my SoulSilver Nuzlocke run. Rated T for character/Pokémon deaths and being a Nuzlocke!
1. Look out Johto, Here I Come!

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! Yeah, my impatience got the better of me, so I started the prequel (not that anyone even looked at the poll...)! This is based on my SoulSilver Nuzlocke, and for those of you who don't know, it's the prequel to my White Nuzlocke story. Rather than it being about Hynden, this is her mom's story instead (no original designs, so Ritsu looks like Kotone/Lyra)! Whenever I don't feel like updating IoD, I'll work on this instead! So please, enjoy the story!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

"Alright, today's the day!" I exclaimed.

It was a bright afternoon on August 2nd, a week after my 13th birthday. I put my white cap with a big red ribbon tied around it over my shoulder-length brown hair that was placed into two low pigtails that stuck out. Once I had my short blue overalls pulled over my red long-sleeved shirt, I pulled up my white knee socks, and put on my bright red sneakers. Suddenly, my laptop started to ring. When I answered it, I was excited to see my friend Ethan and his Marill.

"Hey there, Ritsu!" Ethan greeted, "You remember the plan, right?"

"Of course!" I said, "But, there wouldn't have to _be_ a plan if my mom would willingly let me go on my own Pokémon journey..."

"I know, I know. But, you know your mom. I mean, she's really nice and all, but she seems a bit too overprotective."

"And whenever I bring up the very subject of a journey, she always has some kind of nervous panic attack!"

"Don't worry, this plan is flawless!" Ethan insisted.

"Well, let's go over it just in case! I go over to Professor Elm's lab..." I started.

"And if your mom asks?"

"I tell her I'm just picking up something in Cherrygrove!"

After Ethan clicked off, I carefully walked downstairs, hoping my mom wouldn't notice me leaving. I felt a great sense of success until...

"Ritsu!" Mom called.

"Crap..." I thought, "Um, yes Mom?"

"Wherever are you going?" She asked.

"Oh you know, just stopping by Cherrygrove City for a little bit!"

"Really? For what reason?"

"I'm, uh... just going to pick up something for Ethan! Yeah, his Marill's run out of its favorite snack, and he wants me to go get it this time!"

"Well... okay, I'll let you go," Mom said, "But, you had _better_ not be going to Elm's lab to start a journey! I just don't know what I'd do!"

"Bye Mom!" I called, running out of the door.

Once I walked out of the door, I made sure Mom wasn't secretly watching me, and headed towards Professor Elm's lab to get my starter Pokémon. But, before I could reach the door, I noticed a boy with spiky red hair peering in through a lower window.

"Hmm, so this is the famous Elm lab that everyone's been talking about..." the boy thought.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?" I asked him.

"Huh?!" the boy gasped, turning around to face me, "What are you staring at, girly?! Get lost!"

He then rudely shoved me onto the ground. Brushing myself off, I angrily marched inside, trying to ignore the rude redhead boy.

"Good afternoon, Ritsu!" Professor Elm greeted me, "Are you ready to get your first starter Pokémon?"

"You know it!" I exclaimed.

"One more thing, Ritsu. Before I give you your Pokédex, I need you to walk around with your Pokémon to see if it becomes more bonded with you!"

I excitedly walked over to the three Pokéballs on the machine. Each of them were labeled "Totodile", "Cyndaquil", and "Chikorita". I thought carefully for a moment, and I grabbed the Pokéball that said "Cyndaquil". The little Cyndaquil emerged from its Pokéball in a flash.

"Hi there, I'm Ritsu!" I greeted, "I'm gonna be your trainer from now on!"

"Hmph," Cyndaquil pouted, turning its head away from me.

"Umm, was it something I said?" I asked.

"Oh don't worry, Ritsu," Professor Elm assured me, "She's just a little pouty is all. I'm sure she'll 'warm up' to you eventually!"

I quietly snickered at Professor Elm's little pun. Holding my new starter in my arms, I tried talking to her again.

"Um, h-hi there," I greeted.

"Yeah, hi I guess," Cyndaquil sighed, deadpan, "My name's Blaze, and you?"

"Ritsu. You don't seem to like me much, do you?"

"Gee, whatever gave you that idea? I know your supposed to be my trainer, but that doesn't mean I have to like you."

"Maybe you'll change your mind," I said.

"Um, Ritsu? Pokémon can't talk, may I ask what you're doing?" Elm asked.

"What do you mean they can't talk?" I asked, "I just had a whole conversation with Blaze! Here, listen to her say something."

"Cynda, Cyndaquil," Elm heard from Blaze, making him chuckle lightly.

"Oh Ritsu, you and your imagination," Elm chuckled. "Another thing, I have a small favor to ask of you. There's this researching partner of mine, and his name is Mr. Pokémon. Yes, I know his name isn't very original, but point being, I need you to go a little bit past Cherrygrove, and find his house. I heard he's found a new discovery. Can you do that for me?"

"Well, I did tell my mom I was going to Cherrygrove, so I'm up for it!"

"Thank you! I wish you luck!" Elm said as I walked out of the door.

Unfortunately, I left the lab only to see my mom with a suspicious look on her face. Her eyes slowly moved down to see Blaze right next to me.

"Picking up Marill food, eh?" she said. "Ritsu, why would you lie to me like that?! You march right back in there, and return that starter! I told you already I **don't** want you going on a Pokémon journey!"

"But Mom, what's so horrible about going on a Pokémon journey?!" I cried, "I was supposed to have started my journey nearly two years ago! What reason do you have for not letting me go?"

"B-Because," Mom stuttered, "Because I'm scared I'll lose you just like I did your father!"

I could tell Mom was starting to get distraught because tears were quickly forming in her bright blue eyes.

"You were too young to remember, but when you were around three, your father decided to embark on another journey. He promised he would come back, but one day, he told me he had lost his whole team of Pokémon."

"What do you mean 'lost'?"

"They **died**, Ritsu. They didn't faint like most Pokémon do when they lose a battle, but instead, they had lost their lives. So when his team died, he decided to leave Johto to try and do his journey over, and he never came back."

I could feel my heart sink as my mom was telling me this.

"...Mom," I said, "I promise I'll never abandon you. But, you have to let me go on this journey. I could be a really strong and really brave trainer! And who knows, maybe I'll even become Johto's next champion!"

"You know what, Ritsu," Mom said, "You're right. Just because your father made mistakes doesn't mean I should assume you will. That's why I'm finally letting you go on your journey."

"Really?!" I beamed, "Thank you, Mom!"

"Wait, you're gonna need this," Mom said, giving me my Pokégear."

"Bye, I'll keep in contact with you as much as possible!"

Remembering Elm's request, I left New Bark Town for Route 29. My heart was pounding, but it wasn't because I was nervous (well, maybe a little nervous), it was because my dream of being a Pokémon trainer was finally coming true.

* * *

_**Pokémon obtained: **_Blaze the Cyndaquil, Female, Brave nature, Often dozes off.

_**Deaths: **_None.

_**Boxed: **_None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Wanna know something? When I was deciding what to call Ritsu, K-On! was actually running through my head, so I named her after the drummer chick with the yellow headband! So, I hope to continue this, and stay tuned for Chapter 2!


	2. An Egg-cellent Errand!

**Author's Note: **Well, here's Chapter 2 finally up! I'm really bad at Author's Notes, but I like keeping my word count over at least 1000, so I'm just trying to add words. So before I start rambling, enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

As Blaze and I walked through the forest, I constantly tried to talk to her. No matter how friendly I was, nothing seemed to get her to like me.

"You should have just listened to your mother and returned me to Elm's lab!" Blaze snapped.

"Come on, Blaze," I said, "Am I really _that_ bad that you don't want to be near me?"

"Listen, kid-"

"It's Ritsu," I corrected.

"Right, listen kid, no offense, but I just don't see you as _my_ type of trainer. You're too girly, your fashion choice is dorky as all hell, and overall, you're not very tough-looking."

Insulted, I was about to say something back to her. Before I could even get a word out, we were ambushed by a wild Sentret.

"Blaze, use Tackle!" I cried.

Surprisingly, Blaze actually obeyed my command, and slammed her body into the Sentret, knocking it out instantly. Then, we were attacked by a wild Pidgey, but I had Blaze counterattack with the same move. However, the Pidgey was still standing strong, and managed to injure Blaze with its own Tackle.

"Blaze, be careful!" I shouted.

What happened after truly surprised me. Instead of another Tackle attack, Blaze unleashed a powerful Ember that had finally finished off the Pidgey. I was about to praise Blaze for defeating her first two opponents, but she suddenly collapsed.

"Help...me..." Blaze gasped.

Panicking, I quickly picked her up, and ran all the way to Cherrygrove City. I was about to enter the Pokémon Center when I was stopped by a strange old man.

"Excuse me miss, is this a bad time?" The old man asked.

"Well, my Cyndaquil-" I began.

"Wonderful!" The old man exclaimed, "Allow me to show you around town!"

Over the span of 30 minutes, the old man showed me around Cherrygrove City, despite the fact that I already knew my way around.

"...And this is the Pokémon Mart, here you can buy items useful for your Pokémon. Over here is-"

"Sir, I already know what this place looks like!" I snapped. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go heal my Cyndaquil!"

Once I finally got to the Pokémon Center front desk, the Cherrygrove Nurse Joy took Blaze from my arms, and quickly healed her. When Blaze finally woke up, she looked healthier than ever.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Pretty good," Blaze replied. "Listen, um Ritsu was it? I just wanted to apologize about what I said earlier. Despite how you look, you're actually not bad for a rookie trainer!"

"I'll take it. Besides, this is only the beginning of our journey, Blaze!"

"Didn't we have to go see that old man with the unoriginal name?" Blaze asked.

"Ah! That's right!" I exclaimed, "Good thing that other old man gave me these nifty Running Shoes!"

After a 10-15 minute run, Blaze and I finally came across a house with an Apricorn Tree planted next to it.

"Finally," Blaze panted, "Let's go in, get the egg, and not have to run so fast anymore."

I knocked on the door, and a middle-aged man answered it.

"Are you Mr. Pokémon?" I asked, "If so, then I imagined you to look a lot... _older_."

"Haha, no," the man chuckled, "He lives further up north. But, while you're here, take this free Apricorn Box! With this, you can collect Apricorns, and make drinks and Pokéballs for your Pokémon!"

"T-Thanks," I said. "Alright, Blaze, let's go-"

Much to my dismay, I found Blaze was fast asleep. She was probably tired from running, so I decided to carry her to the real Mr. Pokémon's house. After another five minutes of running, we finally reached our destination. The mailbox read "Mr. Pokémon's House", so I knew it was the right place. I walked inside to find Mr. Pokémon and the Kanto region's own Professor Oak.

"Oh, hello there, young girl!" Mr. Pokémon greeted, "Are you by any chance Ritsu?"

"Yes, I am," I confirmed.

"Ah yes, you're the one Elm sent to pick up my discovery! Here, on your way back to New Bark Town, I want you show Elm this Pokémon Egg."

The egg he handed me was white and decorated with red and blue triangles of all different sizes. Its design had quite a familiar feeling to it, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. Suddenly, Professor Oak walked in my direction.

"Oh, you must be Professor Oak!" I beamed. "You must be famous in Kanto!"

"Well, I am a little famous..." Oak said, "But anyways, I'd like for you to help me out, Ritsu."

"Okay, what do you need me to do?"

"Here in my hand is the latest version of the Pokédex. What you need to do is record the data of as many Pokémon you can encounter!"

"Sounds easy enough!" I exclaimed, "I'll do it!"

"Great, I knew I would! I'll just register my number into your Pokégear so we can keep up with each other."

"Don't worry, Professor!" I assured, "I'll try to complete the Pokédex for you! You can count on me!"

* * *

_**Pokémon **__**obtained: **_None.

_**Deaths: **_None.

_**Boxed: **_None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** And that concludes Chapter 2! In the next chapter, we'll finally find out the rival's name, and the journey will begin for real! So with that, stay tuned!


	3. Case of the Stolen Totodile!

**Author's Note:** Here's Chapter 3, guys! I'm going to try and balance my updates between this and its chronological successor, so there will be days where this is slow, and IoD updates, and vice-versa. Blah blah blah, enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

I ran out the door; holding the mysterious Egg in an Egg Case. I stopped dead in my tracks as my Pokégear started ringing. When I answered it, it was Professor Elm, who sounded like he was panicking.

"R-Ritsu, come quick!" Elm shouted, "Oh, it's terrible! Just terrible!"

With Blaze still sleeping on my shoulder, I rushed back to New Bark Town. As I was leaving Cherrygrove, I accidentally ran into someone. Much to my shock, it was the rude redheaded boy from before.

"Watch where you're going!" the Boy snapped, "Oh, it's only you."

"Nice to meet you too, I guess," I said.

"Whatever. How did a weak trainer like you get such a cool looking Pokémon like Cyndaquil?"

"Hey! Who are you calling a wimp?" I yelled, cross.

"My Pokémon's better than yours, and I can prove it by beating you in battle!"

The boy sent forth his starter Pokémon: Totodile. Seeing no way to back my way out of this battle, I sent Blaze forth to fight.

"Och, lad," Totodile said, "What do I do?"

"What do you mean 'What do I do'?!" the boy snapped, "You battle, you worthless runt!"

"Okay, lad," Totodile sighed, "G-Give me a move command."

"Use Scratch!" the boy cried.

Totodile's claws got slightly sharper, and it swiped one of them into Blaze's side.

"Blaze, use Tackle!" I called.

Blaze countered Totodile's attack by critically slamming into it. Totodile then used another Scratch attack, making Blaze collapse to the ground.

"Hmph, it looks like I—" the boy began.

Before the boy could finish his sentence, Blaze got up and used an Ember attack on Totodile. She then finished off her opponent with another Tackle.

"Tch, I'd expect no less from a weak little Totodile," the boy growled under his breath. "I'm gonna win next time!"

"Well, I think you did pretty well for your first battle, little Totodile!" I chirped.

"Eh?! S-Shut up, don't give it your encouragement, you stupid girl! I'm still gonna be the world's best Trainer ever, so stay out of my way!"

"Sheesh, what a jerk," I mumbled as he began to storm off. "Hey, what's this?"

I bent down to see that the redheaded jerk dropped his Trainer Card. I examined it carefully until I came across one important little detail: his name. Suddenly, the Boy came back and swiped his card from my hand.

"Gimme that!" he snapped, shoving me a little bit. "Damn it, she probably saw my name... Totodile, we're leaving!"

"Yes, sir, ahm comin'," Totodile sighed.

Frustrated, I sprayed Blaze with a Potion I had found in the forest.

"Who the hell was that brat?" Blaze asked.

"I don't know," I said, "I just hope we never see his stupid face again. Anyways, we'd better hurry back to Elm's lab. He sounded like he was in trouble."

When we finally reached the inside of the lab, my arms were suddenly being held behind my back by a police officer.

"Ah-ha!" she exclaimed, "I've got you now, you thief!"

"T-Thief?!" I stuttered.

"Don't play dumb with me, kid. I _know_ you took the missing Totodile, so hand it over!"

"Stop!" Ethan cried as he burst through the door, "She's innocent! Earlier, there was a redheaded boy looking in through the lab window!"

"What?!" the Police Officer exclaimed, "Is this true, young man?"

"He's right! I saw that same guy on my way here!" I said.

"Can you describe him for me, please?" the Police Officer asked.

"Well, he had red hair, gray eyes, wearing dark colored clothes..."

"Do you know what his name was?"

"Yeah, it was..."

I thought for a moment, trying to remember what the name on his Trainer Card said.

"His name was Nico," I said.

"Can you spell it?"

"N-I-C-O."

"...C-O. Thanks, I'm going to look for this kid now!"

Once the police officer left, I handed the Pokémon Egg to Professor Elm. When he saw the design, he was so surprised he jumped back a few spaces.

"I figured it was going to be an Egg, but I didn't think I'd see such an unusual type!" Elm gasped.

"Hey, Professor," I said, holding up my Pokédex, "Look what Professor Oak gave me!"

"Oh, he gave you a Pokédex already?" Elm asked. "If you're going on a journey, then I recommend you take the League Challenge. If you accept, then you must head to Violet City for the first Gym."

"I accept!" I beamed, "I'm going to get all eight badges, and face the Elite Four!"

"That's the spirit!" Elm said. "First, let your Pokémon rest for a little."

Once Blaze was well rested, we headed out of the door, and back to Route 29 where I saw Ethan and his Marill.

"Oh, hi Ritsu!" Ethan greeted, "Are you officially starting your journey?"

"Yes, yes I am," I responded.

"You know, minus the egg, you only have one Pokémon with you," Ethan pointed out. "Do you know how to catch any?"

"Umm..." I pondered, "I don't think so..."

"Well then, let me show you how!"

Ethan sent his Marill against a wild Rattata. Marill used its Tackle attack a few times before the Rattata was totally weakened.

"Once you get the wild Pokémon a little weaker, you throw a Pokéball at it!" Ethan explained as he threw a Pokéball at the wild Rattata.

The Pokéball shook three times before finally clicking shut. I was slightly amazed by the catching method since I hadn't had much experience on how to catch a Pokémon.

"And that's how you do it!" Ethan exclaimed, "I'm going to give you some Pokéballs so you can catch your own. Well, good luck and see you, Ritsu!"

The minute Ethan scampered off with his Marill, we encountered our first official wild Pokémon catch: a Sentret. Blaze weakened it a little with Ember, and I threw a Pokéball at it. I jumped for joy as the Pokéball clicked shut.

"Heh, welcome to the team, Yui," I said to myself. "And now, onwards to the _real_ beginning of my journey!"

* * *

_**Pokémon obtained:**_ Yui the Sentret, Female, Calm nature, Sturdy body.

_**Deaths: **_None.

_**Boxed: **_None.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Once again, I named people after a Percy Jackson character (Nico). As a little note, Totodile speaks with a bit of a Scottish accent if I couldn't write it clearly! Anyways, I'll try and get Chapter 4 done as soon as possible, so stay tuned for it!


	4. Much Ado About Sprouting!

**Author's Note:** Look there! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? NO! It's a Nuzlocke update! Sorry this took so long, but I had a bad case of Writer's Block... So without further ado, enjoy Chapter 4 at last!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

As I scouted to find Violet City, I was stopped by a young boy wearing a backwards blue cap.

"Hey you, hottie!" The kid shouted, "My name's Joey, and I'd like to battle you with my super awesome Rattata!"

"What?" I said, "Why such a random request?"

"Because, if I win, I get your number!" Joey said.

"Ugh," I groaned, "Fine. Blaze, Yui, which one of you girls wants to battle?"

"Me!" Yui exclaimed, "I've never been in a real trainer battle before!"

"Well... alright then!" I agreed.

Rattata attacked Yui with its Tackle attack, but Yui remained strong. She critically hit Rattata with her Scratch attack, flipping it on its backside. Rattata tried to strike Yui again with another Tackle, but Yui made it faint with another Scratch attack.

"Feh! You just got lucky with that!" Joey exclaimed. "B-But, can I still have your number anyways, please?"

"Fine," I sighed as I registered Joey's number into my Pokégear.

"Thanks, hottie!" Joey said as I kept walking. "I'll call ya as soon as I can, then we can talk about my over-the-top Rattata!"

"Please don't," I mumbled.

After I unwillingly registered Joey's number into my Pokégear, I prepared myself, Blaze, and Yui for the long hike to Violet City. The hike eventually got even more difficult when I kept getting challenged to a battle by a bunch of random trainers. Luckily, Blaze and Yui won every single one of those fights, so we were able to keep going. As I unconsciously stumbled into some tall grass, I was ambushed by a Ledyba.

"Blaze, take it down!" I cried.

"Gotcha!" Blaze confirmed.

Ledyba socked Blaze in the face with a Comet Punch attack. Growling angrily, Blaze instantly tackled the wild Bug/Flying-type.

"Blaze, use Ember!" I commanded.

As Blaze released a breath of flames from her mouth, Ledyba fell to the ground with a thud. Blaze was about to finish it off when I held her back from attacking.

"Don't roast it, Blaze," I said, "It's already got a burn. Besides, I'm gonna catch it."

I tossed a Pokéball at the barely conscious Ledyba, and the Pokéball shook three times before clicking shut.

"And Ledyba makes three," I said, "Come on, we're almost halfway to Violet City!"

I kept running until I saw a gate. Before I knew it, I had finally made it to the intended destination. My heart pounded with excitement as I took advantage of the unfamiliar sights. Remembering all the battles I had on the way here, I quickly went inside the Pokémon Center to heal my team. After a couple of minutes, the Nurse Joy at the counter gave me my Pokéballs and Blaze back.

"Hey new teammate," I said, sending Ledyba out of its Pokéball, "Come out and meet everyone!"

"What?" Ledyba asked, "Oh, it's just you guys. Who are you anyways?"

"Well, my name is Ritsu, this is Blaze, and we've got a Sentret teammate named Yui!"

"Nice to meet you guys! My name is Hermia!"

"The bug's a girl?" Blaze whispered.

"Shh! Don't offend her!" I whispered back. "Welcome to the team, Hermia."

"Where are you guys heading off to?" Hermia asked.

"We're going to challenge the Violet Gym; we're on the Pokémon League challenge after all!"

"Hmm, I don't think the Gym here is for me. After all, I'm a Bug-type, and this city's leader uses Flying-types!"

"Oh. Well, you can still stay with us!" I insisted.

After returning Hermia to her Pokéball, I began to look for a place to train. I asked a person walking by me, and they suggested that I begin training at a place called Sprout Tower. Taking heed to their advice, I followed the way they told me to go, and went inside the rickety wooden tower.

"Wow," I said as I gazed at all of the Bellsprout statues, "This place sure has a lot of Bellsprout worship."

"Let's just hurry up and train," Blaze said, "And look, there's out first opponent!"

However, just as we began to walk towards the little Bellsprout Blaze had been eying, it heard my footsteps creaking on the wooden floor, and tried to run away.

"Nice walking, Bigfoot," Blaze taunted.

"Hey!" I snapped, "Let's just try and follow the Bellsprout!"

Blaze and I restlessly pursued Bellsprout until none of us could run or hide anymore.

"P-Please don't hurt me!" Bellsprout pleaded.

"Listen, planty," Blaze said, "You've got two choices: Either stop running and let Ritsu consider capturing you, or let me burn you to a crisp!"

"Okay, okay! I could let you capture me if you promise not to kill me!"

"It's a deal," I agreed, "Do you have a name, little fella?"

"Y-Yes. I'm Lamar."

"Nice to meet you, Lamar!" I said, placing a Pokéball on Lamar's head.

Once the Pokéball clicked shut, I decided to train all four of my Pokémon (mostly Blaze and Yui, who were the only two not weak against Flying-types) by battling trainers instead of finding wild Pokémon. I battled a bunch of male sages who kept telling me that they were the guardians of the tower. After I battled the last three sages, the team got stronger, and I was able to climb up to the top. Suddenly, I heard voices coming from nearby. I peeked beyond the tower support beam to see Nico talking to who appeared to be the main elder.

"You are quite strong, boy," the Elder remarked, "But, you frequently abuse and mistreat your Pokémon."

"Pffft, what do you know, old man?!" Nico snapped as he stormed off. "Why should I treat my Pokémon well? All they are to me are tools for winning battles, and nothing more! Being nice to Pokémon, what a bunch of bullshit!"

"What's your problem, Nico?!" I screeched, "Pokémon aren't just tools for you to use and just toss out whenever you feel like!"

"Ah, what the hell do you know, Plumber-Breath?" Nico sneered, "You're just as weak as that old man!"

"P-Plumber-Breath?!" I yelled, "Who do you think you're calling Plumber-Breath?!"

However, Nico paid no attention to my angry outburst, and left the tower using an Escape Rope. Furious, I rapidly stomped my foot on the ground, and grumbled under my breath.

"Just ignore him, Ritsu," Blaze suggested, "He's just an asshole."

"I know," I said, "But, he can just be such a pain!"

"So nice of you to make it to the top!" the Elder greeted, "Let me test whether or not you're as stubborn as that redheaded boy from earlier!"

The Elder sent out a Bellsprout as my battle opponent. Already getting tired of seeing so many of those things, I sent Hermia out to battle.

"Alright, Hermia, use Supersonic!" I cried.

Hermia released multiple glowing rings towards Bellsprout. Bellsprout tried its best to focus on the battle, but it struggled to stand straight.

"Bellsprout, try and use Vine Whip!" the Elder shouted.

A pair of green vines sprouted from Bellsprout's arms. Hermia was slightly afraid of the attack, but that fear melted into relief as Bellsprout accidentally hit itself with its own attack, causing it to faint on the spot. The Elder then sent out his Hoothoot to battle, and I switched Hermia for Yui.

"Hoothoot, attack with Peck!" the Elder commanded.

Hoothoot jabbed its beak into Yui's side, causing her to squeal in pain. But, because the attack wasn't critical, Yui countered with Fury Swipes.

"Hoothoot, use Hypnosis!" the Elder cried.

"Yui, dodge and finish with Quick Attack!" I shouted.

Luck happened to be on my side, because Hoothoot's attack had missed, and it was defeated by Yui's Quick Attack. Returning his fainted Pokémon to its Pokéball, the Elder smiled with admiration.

"I see," the Elder remarked, "You treat your Pokémon like dear friends rather than tools."

"Of course!" I replied, "My Pokémon _are_ also my friends, after all!"

"So with that, I proudly award you with this," the Elder said, handing me a Technical Machine.

"What move is this?" I asked.

"It's a move called Flash. In case you stumble into a cave where it's too dark to see, a Pokémon who knows this move will light it right up!"

"Thank you, Elder Li!"

"Take this Escape Rope, young Ritsu. You're going to need it if you want to get out of this old tower."

Using the Escape Rope, I quickly got out of the tower and hurried toward the Pokémon Center to heal my team. Once their wounds were healed, I bought some Potions and headed to the Violet City Gym for my first Johto badge ever.

* * *

**_Pokémon obtained: _**Hermia the Ledyba, Female, Mild nature, A little quick tempered.

Lamar the Bellsprout, Male, Bashful nature, Alert to sounds.

_**Deaths:**_ None.

_**Boxed:**_ None.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I hope I can be more frequent with these updates, but I've also gotta update my White Nuzlocke too! So, stay tuned for Chapter 5!


	5. Rise of Team Rocket?

**Author's Note: **I actually got this chapter done a few days back, but I wanted to finish Chapter 6 in order to make a quicker story update. Oh, and because the Gym Battles in SoulSilver are so short, some of the battle chapters won't have punny names. So with that, enjoy Chapter 5!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

The inside of the Violet City Gym was a little surprising. I looked around for the Gym Leader, but couldn't find him. I found a strange platform, and decided to step on it. To my surprise, the platform was actually an elevator that took me straight up to the main Gym floor. I walked across the clear path, and instantly got to Falkner's platform.

"I'm Falkner!" he greeted, "I am a master of Flying-types! They say my birds are weak, and can be taken down with a simple electric volt or even a rock! But, I'm going to make sure they eat those words!"

"Um, who's they?" I asked.

"...Most of my previous challengers," Falkner answered with a slight tone of embarrassment. "Anyways, let's begin the battle!"

Falkner's first Pokémon was a Pidgey. Quietly snickering at the tiny thing, I sent Blaze forth to battle.

"Pidgey, use Tackle!" Falkner cried.

Unfortunately, Pidgey's attack barely left a scratch on Blaze. As she grinned devilishly, I commanded her to use SmokeScreen.

"Pocket Smoke!" Blaze cried as she exhaled a cloud of blinding smoke into the room, making it hard for anyone to see.

"Alright, Blaze!" I coughed, "_ACK! _Finish it with Ember!"

The newly-strengthened Ember attack cleared the smoke from the room, revealing a victorious Blaze, and an unconscious Pidgey. Suddenly, Blaze was engulfed in a ring of flames. My caramel-colored eyes widened as I realized I was witnessing my own starter Pokémon's evolution. When the flames extinguished, Blaze opened her eyes and presented herself as a Quilava.

"Well, it's about time I evolved," Blaze said, "I can see clearer than before!"

"I must say, you are quite strong!" Falkner remarked, "But, I've got one last Pokémon! Pidgeotto, go!"

I called Blaze back to let Yui have a chance to battle. Yui made the first move by using Fury Swipes, causing Pidgeotto to take a few steps back.

"We can't give up!" Falkner said, "Pidgeotto, use Gust!"

Pidgeotto began to rapidly flap its wings, stirring up a powerful current of wind. The current then turned into sharp looking blades, which proceeded to leave a lot of bloody cuts into Yui's body.

"Yui!" I cried, "Are you okay?!"

I shook Yui a few times, but much to my shock, she wouldn't move. My body was overcome with a mix of a bunch of feelings all at once: shock, grief, and pain.

"No, Yui! Don't leave me!" I bawled.

As tears started leaking from my eyes, Yui's body began to glow with a bright blue light. She grew much more slender, and her large tail merged with her body. When she stopped glowing, she was now a healthy Furret.

"Yui, you're alive!" I exclaimed.

"Am I ever?" Yui said, "Now, let's finish this battle!"

"Right! Use Fury Swipes one more time!"

"Pidgeotto, dodge it!" Falkner shouted.

Before Pidgeotto could escape, Yui scratched it multiple times with her sharper than ever claws. As Pidgeotto fell to the ground with a thud, Falkner sent it back to its Pokéball.

"I'm quite impressed, Miss Ritsu," Falkner said, "You're actually the first person to defeat me without using a Rock or Electric-type. As I am bound by the rules of the League, I present you with the Zephyr Badge!"

"Yes! My first Gym Badge ever!" I cheered as I held the Zephyr Badge high in the air.

"I wish you luck on your journey!" Falkner said as I traveled down the elevator.

I happily scampered out of the Gym, feeling a great sense of pride and accomplishment. Suddenly, I was stopped by a young woman wearing a formal kimono. She reached inside my bag, and took out the egg I got from Professor Elm.

"This Egg..." she said with a heavy Japanese accent, "You must promise to take good care of it, okay?"

"Umm, yes ma'am," I agreed.

"Thanks," she said as she walked off.

"...Okay..." I said confused. "That was odd."

I checked my Pokégear map to tell me which way Azalea Town was. Already excited for my next battle, I followed the directed route, and headed to the southernmost city exit. With Blaze by my side, the lengthy hike through Route 32 had begun. Eventually, night had fallen, and we were both exhausted from walking and battling some of the trainers on that route. Luckily for us, there was a convenient Pokémon Center placed nearby, so we decided to check into it for the night.

When the next day had finally come, I changed from my pajamas into my normal attire, and continued the trip to Azalea Town. I kept walking until I came across a cave called Union Cave. Seeing no way past it, I walked inside.

"I'm really not much for caves," I sighed, "They're _way_ too dark, and always creeping with stupid Zubats!"

"Suck it up, Reets," Blaze scoffed, "Before you know it, we'll be out of here, and into Azalea Town."

Suddenly, my eye was caught by a shaking rock. The rock's shaking got even faster until it finally burst; revealing a wild Geodude.

"Well, at least it's not a Zubat," I remarked, "Alright, Blaze, weaken it with Quick Attack."

Once Blaze had inflicted some damage onto the Rock-type, I felt it was necessary to catch it. So, I hastily threw a Pokéball at the Geodude, and the capture was a success. I let the Geodude out to properly meet it.

"Hi there," I greeted.

"Hey," Geodude said, "Name's Braxton, what's yours, lady?"

"My name's Ritsu, and this is my Quilava, Blaze."

"Charmed," Blaze said.

"Do you know the quickest way out of this cave and into Azalea Town?" I asked.

"Yup," Braxton said, "Follow me."

In a time span of about half an hour, I could finally spot the cave exit. After returning Braxton to his Pokéball, I excitedly hurried to the exit. But, my excitement quickly turned to disgust as we were suddenly caught in a downpour.

"Augh!" Blaze exclaimed, "I hate the rain!"

"Don't worry, Azalea Town is straight down this path!" I assured, "We'll be dry in no time!"

Scooping Blaze underneath my bag, I traversed west to our destination. Even though the rain had finally stopped, I stopped walking when I saw an old man being harassed by a younger man in sketchy black clothes.

"W-Who are you?" the old man asked.

"You really don't know?" the man in black sneered, "We're Team Rocket!"

"Team Rocket?" the old man said, "Didn't you hooligans break up a couple of years ago?"

"Nonsense!" the Team Rocket Grunt retorted. "...Okay, we did break up, but now we're back in business! And, when we contact our leader Giovanni, all the world's Pokémon will be ours! So, outta my way, ya old poot!"

The Team Rocket Grunt brutally shoved the old man onto the ground. The old man shakily got up and ran away from him. I had only heard a little bit about Team Rocket, but the little information I had told me that they were bad news. When I hurried into the peaceful town of Azalea, I stopped dead in my tracks at the object at my feet.

It was a Slowpoke, slowly bleeding to death from its chopped off tail.

* * *

_**Pokémon obtained:**_ Braxton the Geodude, Male, Hardy nature, Likes to relax.

_**Deaths:**_ None.

_**Boxed/Unboxed:**_ None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Chapter 6 will be here on its way! And in the next chapter, we face the first Nuzlocke casualty! Who will it be? Find out in Chapter 6!


	6. Sadness in Slowpoke Well!

**Author's Note: **Well, like I promised, here's Chapter 6! Enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

"H-How did this happen?!" I cried, "Do you know who cut your tail off, little Slowpoke?"

"Yes..." Slowpoke said weakly, "Some guys in black who call themselves Team Rocket. And it wasn't just me they tortured, nearly half of my friends and family have been cut tailless."

"Don't worry, I'll help you guys!" I assured, "I'm gonna teach Team Rocket a lesson!"

"Thank you, ma'am..." Slowpoke whispered, "And if it's not too much trouble, can you please take me to the town's Pokémon Center?"

"Sure thing!" I said dashing to the Pokémon Center. Once the Slowpoke was healed, I set it free and tried to find help. I was cut from my thoughts when my Pokégear started ringing. I was being called by Ethan.

"Hey, Ritsu!" Ethan greeted, "Are you in Azalea Town?"

"Yeah, I am," I said.

"Well, I heard there's a guy named Kurt who makes Pokéballs from Apricorns overnight! He lives in the most northwest part of town, you should go see him!"

As soon as Ethan hung up, I hurried northwest in Azalea Town, and found the Kurt guy's house.

"And who may you be, Miss?" Kurt asked.

"My name is Ritsu, sir," I answered.

"Nice to meet you, Ritsu!" Kurt said, "Ya wanna make some Balls with me?"

"Umm..." I said creeped out by the statement, "That sounds really gross and unpleasant."

"No no no!" Kurt assured, "Not _those _kind of balls! I meant Pokéballs!"

"Oh! Well, maybe later."

"Sheesh, kids these days with their sick minds..." Kurt mumbled. "Well, if you don't want Pokéballs, then what ails you?"

"You see, Kurt," I stated, "There's this band of bad guys called Team Rocket. And on my way here, I was told that the Slowpoke in the Slowpoke Well had their tails severed by Team Rocket!"

"...WHAT?!" Kurt exclaimed, "Why didn't you say so sooner?! Hang in there, Slowpoke! Kurtie's coming to the rescue!"

Kurt bolted out of the door, and I hastily followed him. Despite his old age, he was actually a fast runner. Suddenly, before I could climb into the well, I felt a light shaking coming from my bag. I pulled out the Egg Case, and I found out the shaking was coming from the egg. Amazed, I witnessed the top of the eggshell pop off, and a little Togepi had emerged.

"Aww, he's so cute!" I beamed. However, I quickly corrected myself when I looked underneath the newborn Togepi. "Er, I mean _she's _so cute!"

"Abawaa..." the Togepi cooed.

"Awww!" I squealed, "I'm going to name you Rose. Do you like that name, Rose?"

"Yaaa! Yaaa!" Rose agreed.

"Hey!" Blaze snapped, "When we're done with the stupid 'ooohs' and 'aaahs', we've got some Rocket butt to stop!"

"Well, someone's a little jealous," I teased.

"No, I'm not!" Blaze retorted, "I just don't like it when you give that little Togepi too much attention and forget about—"

"You?" I asked.

"T-The mission!" Blaze said, "Come on, what are we waiting for?"

After putting Rose into her new Pokéball, Blaze and I climbed down into Slowpoke Well where we saw Kurt shakily standing still.

"Kurt!" I cried, "Are you okay?"

"Not quite," Kurt said cringing, "I managed to scare off the Rocket Grunt that was guarding the well, but I took such a nasty blow jumping down here that I hurt my back."

"Can you still move?"

"No, it hurts to try and run. I could probably still climb the ladder back up, but I'm afraid I can't help you with your mission."

"It's alright, Kurt. I can handle things with my Pokémon!" I assured, "We'll stop Team Rocket, and save the Slowpoke!"

"Good Luck," Kurt said as he struggled to climb the latter.

Not wanting him to fall down again, I gave him a little push, and he made his way out of the well. I scurried deeper into Slowpoke Well, and found the first Rocket Grunt. He immediately ambushed me with his two Rattata, and I sent out Blaze and Braxton to battle. Blaze took out one Rattata with an Ember attack, and Braxton took the other down with Rock Throw.

"Why are you torturing poor little Slowpoke?!" I fiercely asked.

"What's it too you, kid?" the Rocket Grunt sneered as he ran off.

I traversed the cave even further, easily taking down a male and female Rocket Grunt. I saw a man with light teal hair in a Team Rocket uniform, so I stepped forward to confront him.

"Well well well," the man gloated, "What do we have here? A little girl trying to act all big and bad?"

"Who's acting?" I said smugly, "I'm gonna kick your ass."

"I'll be the judge of that!" the man exclaimed, "No little girl is going to defeat me, Rocket Executive Proton! I'm the most sadistic and powerful of all the Executives!"

I slightly shivered at Proton's confidence, but I relaxed as his first Pokémon turned out to be a petty little Zubat. Scoffing, I sent Braxton to use Rock Throw, and the Zubat fell to the ground defeated.

"Wow, for someone so 'sadistic and powerful', you sure have crummy battling skills," I laughed.

"I'm not done yet, brat!" Proton shouted, "Koffing, teach her a lesson!"

"Braxton, come back!" I cried, "Lamar, show 'em what you got!"

Koffing managed to inflict quite a bit of damage onto Lamar using Tackle, but Lamar wasn't going down without a fight. Lamar's Wrap attack tightly squeezed the living daylights out of Koffing, leaving it immobilized.

"You give up?" I asked.

"Never! Koffing, use Poison Gas!" Proton exclaimed.

Koffing released a toxic breath of smoke from its body holes. Lamar began to cough so violently that he couldn't focus.

"Lamar, get out of there!" I cried.

"I don't think so," Proton said, "Koffing, finish it with Tackle!"

I couldn't see much beyond the Poison Gas, but I could hear clearly. My eyes widened as I could only hear a loud _CRACK_ sound. When the smoke cleared, all I could see was the unconscious Koffing, and blood oozing from Lamar's exposed skull.

"N-No..." I said in disbelief as I rushed to Lamar's body, "NO! Lamar, you can't die!"

"Hmph, to think that I could lose to a kid like yourself," Proton remarked.

Suddenly, my heart filled with pain and fury as I lunged out at Proton, gripping the collar of his shirt.

"Tell me right now..." I said gritting my teeth in anger, "What are you Rockets scheming to do?!"

"Like hell I'd tell someone like you," Proton said, "But, we were planning on selling those stupid Slowpoke tails for profit. However, thanks to you, that plan is ruined."

Proton then mysteriously fled the cave. Once he was gone, I started bawling over Lamar's death as Blaze tried comforting me.

"Ritsu, what's wrong?" Kurt asked walking over to me.

"Team Rocket... killed my Bellsprout," I sniffed wiping tears from my eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Kurt apologized, "But, you did save the Slowpoke! Maybe coming back to the town will cheer you up."

"Thanks, Kurt," I said, "But first, I need to lay Lamar to rest."

"Okay, kiddo. Take all the time you need, I'll be waiting."

I walked over to a nearby pool of water. Seeing no dig-able ground available, I decided to tie a small rock to Lamar's corpse, and I lowered him into the water. I tearfully watched him slowly sink to the bottom as his little leafy arms slowly spread out. As one final tear escaped from my eye, I bid my deceased Bellsprout goodbye, and followed Kurt back up to Azalea Town.

"Lamar, I swear," I thought, "One day, Team Rocket's gonna pay for this!"

* * *

_**Pokémon obtained:**_ Rose the Togepi, Female, Rash nature, Quick tempered.

_**Deaths:**_ Lamar the Bellsprout, Lvl. 5-11

_**Boxed/Unboxed:**_ None

* * *

**Author's Note:** What's that? No, Lamar's burial _totally_ wasn't a failed Final Fantasy VII reference! Haha, what are you talking about? Anyways, stay tuned for Chapter 7!


	7. Farewell, Azalea Town!

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, my White Nuzlocke and the MLP Valentine's Day story kinda kept me from working on this! But, after a long wait, here's Chapter 7! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

Back at Kurt's house, I was still upset over Lamar's death. To try and cheer me up, Kurt's granddaughter Maisy made me a cup of tea with a deliciously sweet taste.

"Mmm, this is delicious!" I declared, "What's in it?"

"I just used one of Grandpa's leftover pink Apricorns, and blended it," Maisy explained. "I hoped it would cheer you right up!"

"Well, I do feel a little better, so thank you, Maisy."

"Your welcome! After all, you helped my Slowpoke, Billy, so it's the least I could do!"

"Ritsu, are you feeling well enough to leave?" Kurt asked.

"Yes, I think I'll be okay," I answered.

"Splendid! As a present, I made you a Friend Ball for the road!"

"Thanks, Kurt!"

"If you ever want me to make more Pokéballs for you, then register me in your Pokégear!"

Once Kurt was officially registered, I left his house for the Azalea Town Pokémon Center. When I got there, I got a call from Professor Elm.

"Hello, Ritsu," Elm said.

"Hi, Professor," I responded, "Oh! I just remembered, my Togepi egg finally hatched!"

"Ah! So it was a Togepi egg!" Elm exclaimed, "Well, Ritsu, I knew you'd be trustworthy enough to take care of that egg!"

"Thanks, Professor."

"Tell you what, because you've succeeded in hatching the Egg, I'll let you keep it!"

"Wow, really?!" I beamed, "Thanks!"

"Anytime, Ritsu."

After Professor Elm hung up, I went to the Poké Mart to buy stuff for my second Gym battle. Once the supplies were obtained, I hurried into the Azalea Gym. I spent about twenty minutes pulling levers and riding metal bug sliders before I finally reached Bugsy.

"Before we begin the battle, I must warn you; my Bug-types are not to be underestimated!" Bugsy said, sending out his Metapod.

"Well, let's just see about that," I thought. "Braxton, take the stage!"

As expected, Braxton quickly took down the Metapod with a few Rock Throws. When Bugsy sent out his Kakuna, Braxton did the same thing as before, and the Kakuna was defeated.

"Just because the same tactic worked the first two times," Bugsy said as he sent out his Scyther as his last Pokémon, "Doesn't mean it's going to work a third time."

"Braxton, use Magnitude!" I cried.

The ground began to shake violently, but much to my shock, Scyther managed to avoid the attack by leaping into the air.

"You see? It's not about types, it's about speed," Bugsy remarked, "Scyther, use Quick Attack!"

In the blink of an eye, Braxton was critically struck with an attack from Scyther. Braxton collapsed onto the ground, but I could tell he was still breathing.

"Scyther, finish with U-Turn!" Bugsy commanded.

"Blaze, come out and protect Braxton with Quick Attack!" I cried, tossing Blaze's Pokéball.

As soon as Blaze came out of her Pokéball, she rammed herself onto Scyther. To finish the battle, she defeated Scyther with her Ember attack.

"How's that for speed?" I asked smugly.

"Pretty impressive, ma'am," Bugsy said. "As a reward for defeating me, I present you with the Hive Badge."

"Alright!" I cheered holding up the Hive Badge, "Two down, Six to go!"

"Hey Ritsu," Braxton coughed, "I'd hate to interrupt your happy moment, but I'm still a little injured."

"Oh right," I said, spraying Braxton with a Potion, "Sorry, Brax."

"It's cool, brah," Braxton said.

After I returned Braxton to his Pokéball, I hurried out of the Gym to find the next city. Just as I was about to enter the corridor, I was suddenly approached by Nico.

"N-Nico!" I squeaked, "What a surprise, although not a very pleasant one..." I was sure to say that last part quietly.

"...Tell me," Nico demanded as he angrily grabbed the collar of my shirt, "Has Team Rocket really returned?!"

"Yeah, they have," I told him, "I just defeated a Rocket guy named Proton for murdering my Bellsprout."

"Ha! Don't make me laugh, Plumber-Breath. There's no way in hell a weak little girl like you could have taken down a Rocket member. But, if you somehow defeat me, then maybe, just _maybe_, I'll take your word for it."

"You'd better count on getting beat!" I gloated, sending out Yui.

Once Nico sent out his Zubat, I had Yui used Fury Swipes on her opponent. By the time Yui was finished with her attack, Zubat looked worn out, but Nico didn't seem to care at all.

"You'd better get up and fight, you stupid weakling!" Nico snapped.

"But, sir..." Zubat said, "That Fury-Swipes attack was really critical."

"Like I care! Either you fight, or you're out of here!" Nico shouted.

Seeing no way to spare the Zubat, I told Yui to use her Quick Attack, and the Zubat fainted. Nico angrily sent out his Croconaw, and I sent Blaze out despite the disadvantage.

"So we meet again, eh Lizard-lips?" Blaze taunted.

"Aye, lassie," Croconaw answered, "So we do."

"Croconaw, use Water Gun!" Nico commanded.

Blaze was soon doused in a blast of water. Slightly shivering from the attack, she quickly shook herself dry and her flames reignited.

"Blaze, attack with SmokeScreen!" I exclaimed.

Blaze released a large cloud of smoke from her mouth, making it nearly impossible to see anything.

"Alright, now finish with Quick Attack!" I coughed.

Croconaw was then knocked out of the smoke, and landed on the ground unconscious. The cold look in Nico's gray eyes didn't seem to disappear as he sent Croconaw back to its Pokéball.

"Ready to give up, Nico?" I asked.

"Get real! There's no way I'm ever gonna lose to a weakling like you! Gastly, finish the job!" Nico cried.

"Hermia, come on out!" I called tossing Hermia's Pokéball.

"Gastly," Nico said, smirking evilly, "Use Mean Look!"

Gastly then gave Hermia a menacing glare as its eyes glowed read. Hermia tried to fly away from the fight, but was blocked by some strange barrier.

"Not good, not good," I thought panicking.

"Now Gastly, use Lick!" Nico ordered.

Gastly proceeded to creepily lick Hermia's face, causing slight paralysis. Hermia tried to use Comet Punch, but due to the type of move it was, it left no effect.

"Heh, now finish with Curse!" Nico exclaimed.

A ghostly nail appeared to hammer itself into Gastly, leaving it a little bit weaker. But, when the same nail hammered into Hermia, a great amount of blood was squirting out of her neck area. I rushed over to Hermia's unmoving side, but it was too late; she was already dead.

"Hermia," I sniffed. "Blaze, finish the battle!"

Angry over our teammate's death, Blaze quickly KO'd the already-weak Gastly with a Flame Wheel attack.

"You're an even bigger weakling than I thought," Nico scoffed. "Why waste your time bawling over a weak little Ledyba?"

"Will you shut up..." I angrily hissed under my breath.

"I mean, it's not like _you're_ the reason it's dead, it's its own fault for being so damn weak."

"I said **SHUT UP**!" I hollered as I tearfully punched Nico in the mouth. "Don't ever taunt or abuse a Pokémon because you think it's 'weak'! You'll **never** get far if you keep thinking that! Now why don't you do me a favor and just get away from me!"

Shocked at my outburst, Nico spat out a bloody tooth and stormed off in a huff.

"Hmm," Nico thought as he looked at the tooth in his palm slightly impressed, "You may be a weak moron, girly, but man, you're brutal!"

"That prick is _so_ going to get it!" Blaze hissed as she began to charge after Nico.

"Just forget it, Blaze," I sighed, "Nico's always going to be nothing more than a bitter jerkass, and he'll never be worth arguing with. Let's just forget about him, and keep going."

When we arrived at a place called the Ilex Forest, I buried Hermia in front of a nearby tree with a heavy heart. Before walking further, I said a few words about Hermia on how although we hadn't spent much time together, she still meant a lot to me.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** None.

**Deaths:** Hermia the Ledyba, Lvl. 6-17

**Boxed/Unboxed:** None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** (And to think Hermia was but one level away from evolving into Ledian...) Guys, I'm kind of wondering: Is anyone even reading this story (I know it's less popular than my White Nuzlocke, but sheesh...)? I mean, I'm still gonna keep writing this story, but the person who's been leaving reviews seemed to have stopped coming... So, stay tuned for Chapter 8!


	8. Rose: The World's Most Kickass Togepi!

**Author's Note:** Welcome back to Tides of the Soul! Before I begin the story, I'd like to give a heartwarming thanks to reviewer **matman1223** for their encouraging comment! So without further ado, enjoy Chapter 8!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

As I walked away from Hermia's grave, I was suddenly stopped by a glasses-wearing boy with dark hair.

"Excuse me, Miss!" the boy exclaimed, "Have you seen any Farfetch'd around here?"

"No, I haven't, sorry," I said.

"Well, if you do see two of them, be sure to bring them to me!"

Taking heed to the boy's words, I searched the forest for the missing Farfetch'd. I finally found them in front of a tree, and carefully tiptoed so they wouldn't hear me. But, I accidentally stepped on a branch, causing the Farfetch'd to flutter further away from me.

"Crap..." I muttered.

After a couple minutes of stepping on branches and scaring the Farfetch'd, I carefully ambushed the two Wild Duck Pokémon. Once I presented them to the glasses boy, another dark haired man (who introduced himself as the Cutting Master of Johto) walked up to us.

"Ah, you've found my Farfetch'd!" the man said. "As a reward for helping me and my son out, I'll give you a Hidden Machine!"

The Hidden Machine he gave me contained a move called Cut. The Cutting Master's Son explained that when the move isn't used in battle, it can be used to cut down trees. Once they walked away, I saw that a tree was blocking my path. Before I could even react, Blaze simply burned down the tree with an Ember attack, and began to walk ahead of me.

"There, now we can go," Blaze said.

"Okay... that works..." I thought as I followed her.

When I continued walking, I was startled by a loud _THUMP_. Curious, I decided to follow the direction from where it came from, and I saw a man repeatedly ramming himself into a large tree.

"Excuse me, sir, but why are you slamming yourself into that tree?" I asked. "Aren't you seriously hurt by now?"

"Nonsense, I'm not hurt!" the man lied as he faced me with a face full of bruises, missing teeth, and a black eye, "I'm just simply trying to catch a Pokémon by headbutting into the tree! You know, I could teach one of your Pokémon the move Headbutt if you'd like!"

"Umm..." I hesitated, "I guess?"

"Great!" the man exclaimed. "Let's see... which one of your Pokémon looks right for the job? Oh! How about that little one?"

"What, you mean Rose?" I asked as I saw he was pointing to my Togepi's Pokéball. "No no no, she's way too young!"

Suddenly, we were ambushed by a wild Oddish. As I tried to fish for a Pokémon to use to catch it, Rose suddenly popped out of her Pokéball with a determined look on her face.

"Rose, no!" I cried, "You'll get hurt!"

Deaf to my pleas of reconsideration, Rose began to move her tiny little arms back and forth until they began to glow light blue. What happened next had truly surprised me: Rose had swung her glowing right arm into Oddish, knocking it through and wrecking at least five trees. All I could do afterward was stand there mouthing a gape at Rose's stupendous power.

"Was that a...?" I gasped.

"Yep! I used Metronome, and it came out as DynamicPunch!" Rose beamed. "Do you think I'm weak now, Ritsu?"

"Not at all, Rose!" I squeaked as I picked her up. "Do you want to learn Headbutt?"

"Yeah yeah!" Rose exclaimed.

After Rose learned the move, she immediately tested it out by tipping another three trees over. Before she had could do it again, I quickly grabbed her.

"Alright, little missy," I said, "Let's move on before you cause an entire deforestation."

As I continued the walk, I heard a weak groan coming from nearby. The groan turned out to have come from the Oddish that Rose had beaten.

"Are you alright, little Oddish?" I asked.

"Oww..." Oddish groaned, "I've got a few sprains and bruises, but I think I'll be fi—OUCH."

"Let me take you to the Pokémon Center! We're heading to Goldenrod right now!" I insisted.

"I already told you," Oddish winced, "I don't need your help! Now please just go away!"

However, Oddish barely took two steps before keeling over in pain. Struggling to get up, she finally decided to let me take her to treatment.

"I'm glad you saw it my way," I said. "My name is Ritsu, and this is my Togepi, Rose."

"It's nice to meet you," Oddish greeted, "My name is Erin. Ah, can you please hurry and take me to the Pokémon Center?"

"Will do," I replied as I tapped Erin with a Pokéball, causing her to disappear into it in a beam of red light.

The Pokéball lightly shook in my hand three times, then clicked shut. Once I reached Route 34, the sun was already starting to set. As I cut through the grass, I was suddenly ambushed by a Drowzee. I sent Yui out on it, and she quickly attacked with a simple Fury Swipes attack. Drowzee stumbled for a little, but then its eyes began to glow bright blue, and Yui followed suit.

"Yui, use Fury Swipes again!" I called out.

Strangely, Yui's attack failed to commence. No matter how many times she tried to retract her large claws, nothing would happen.

"Gah!" Yui exclaimed, "That stupid Drowzee used a Disable attack on me!"

"Well, then attack with Quick Attack instead!" I suggested.

Luck was on our side since the attack actually hit Drowzee critically. Deciding to catch a new teammate, I tossed my last Pokéball at her, and the capture was a success.

"I'm gonna call you Ellen," I said.

Up ahead, I noticed a Pokémon Day Care. When I approached it, I saw Ethan receiving a blue egg from an old man who appeared to be the proprietor of the building.

"Well, my dear grandson," the Day Care Man said, "Here's your new egg!"

"Thanks, Grandpa!" Ethan exclaimed. "Look, Marill; pretty soon, you're going to have a new baby brother or sister around!"

"Ah, I bet that's gonna be fun..." I heard Marill groan with an obvious disdain in his voice.

"Oh, hiya Ritsu!" Ethan greeted, "Fancy seeing you here! This is my Grandpa; he's the Day Care Man!"

"Pleasure to meet you, sir," I said shaking the old man's hand.

"The pleasure's all mine, young lady," the Day Care Man responded.

"My Nanna's inside; I'll introduce you to her!" Ethan said as he pulled me into the Day Care like an excited kid would their mom. "Nanna, this is Ritsu!"

"Ah, so this is your girlfriend!" the Day Care Lady remarked, "I must say, my young boy, you sure know how to pick 'em!"

"N-Nanna!" Ethan retorted, "I've already told you; my girlfriend's name is Kris, and she's traveling in Kanto until the end of the month! Ritsu's been my best _friend_ since we were little kids!"

"Oopsie! My bad," the Day Care Lady chuckled. "So, what brings ya here, girl? Ya wanna leave a Pokémon with us?"

"No thank you, ma'am," I assured, "I was just on my way to Goldenrod City to battle the Gym Leader."

"Well, okay then, come again soon!" the Day Care Lady said.

"But before you leave, Ritsu," Ethan said, "Let's register each other in our Pokégears."

"Hoo-hoo!" the Day Care Lady chuckled, "You're quite the ladies' man, Ethan!"

"Nanna!" Ethan squeaked once our numbers were registered, "I told you Ritsu's not my girlfriend!"

Once I set foot outside the Pokémon Day Care, Ethan's Grandpa stopped me to register his and his wife's numbers into my Pokégear just in case I wanted to stop by again. Thanking him, I finally managed to cross the city limits into Goldenrod City. However, after the long day I had, I was beginning to feel a little bushed. Once nighttime had fallen, I decided to check myself into a Pokémon Center room so I would be ready to take a detour of the city in the morning.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** Erin the Oddish, Female, Quirky nature, Scatters things often.

Ellen the Drowzee, Female, Lax nature, Often lost in thought.

**Deaths:** None.

**Boxed/Unboxed:** None.


	9. All that Glitters is not Goldenrod!

**Author's Note:** Well guys, here's the next chapter! By the way, one of the scenes contains a tiny little foreshadowing and another tiny little Powerpuff Girls reference, can you find them? I was on a roll for typing last night, so this one was typed along with Chapter 8! So with that, enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

The next day, I was already feeling ready to explore the new city. I went downstairs to the lobby to check myself out, and to check Erin's recovery progress. The Goldenrod Nurse Joy told me that Erin had a few benign sprains that will heal in time, and that she was well enough to come with me. Since Goldenrod was the largest city in all of Johto, there was plenty of fun things to do. First, I decided to pay a visit to the local bicycle shop called Miracle Cycle Bikes.

"Hello there, young lady!" the owner greeted. "Since you're the first one in this morning, I've got a little job for you."

"Okay, let me hear it!" I said.

"I want you to ride this bike around the city, to you know, attract more customers!"

"You can count on me!"

"And if you do a good job, then the bike's all yours!"

"Thank you, sir!"

As I joyfully pedaled on the bike, I decided to check out a place that interested me the most: The Goldenrod Department Store. I folded the bike into my bag, and happily scampered inside. I took the escalator, which took me to the floor with all of the necessary things I need for my Gym battle. After I bought about five Super Potions, the lady at the counter stopped me for a little bit.

"Ma'am, do you have the Plain Badge yet?" she asked.

"No, I'm going to challenge this city's Gym later on!" I told her.

"I thought so. Please take these extra ten Super Potions, you're going to need them!"

"But I don't have mo—"

"Don't worry, they're on the house! Trust me when I say this, young lady; this city's Gym Leader, Whitney, has this Miltank she uses in all of her Gym Battles."

"Pffft, it's just a little Miltank, how bad could it be?"

"Don't underestimate the Miltank! Just when you think you've weakened it, BOOM! It uses Milk Drink to heal itself. And as if that wasn't bad enough, it will destroy you're Pokémon with either Rollout or Stomp, and repeat the whole process until either your hope or Pokémon team is destroyed."

Feeling a little terrified, I hastily took the free Super Potions from the clerk. After she told me to have a nice day, I decided that that was enough shopping for the day, and continued my Goldenrod detour on my bike. My next stop to check out was the Johto Name Rater's tent.

"Hello!" the Name Rater chirped happily. "Would you like for me to rate the nicknames of your Pokémon?"

"No thank you sir," I said, "I actually came here for the other thing that you do."

"Ah! You want a fortune session!" the Name Rater exclaimed, "So, would you like your palms read or your Togepi's?"

"No thanks sir, I like them the color they are," Rose said innocently.

"Rose, that's not what it means," I explained. "Can you tell me my fortune please?"

"Very well. What would you like to know about?"

"I'd like to know how I'm going to turn out in the future."

"Alright, let me consult the Guardians of the Future!"

After about a few minutes, the Name Rater finally burst out in amazement.

"Yes yes, a very bright future for you!" the Name Rater said. "Before the end of this year, you shall rise as the region's new Champion!"

"Really?!" I beamed, "That's amazing! Oh oh, can you tell me whether or not I get married or something like that?"

"Hmm," the Name Rater pondered, "Ah yes! In February six years from now, you will be happily married. And the following year in mid-September, you will give birth to a daughter who will eventually grow up to be one of the best Pokémon Trainers there is!"

"A daughter, huh?" I thought. "One more thing, who's going to be my husband in the future?"

"Well... that I'm not quite sure about," the Name Rater answered. "But, the Guardians of the Future are telling me that he's a very powerful trainer, and someone you would expect the least at this moment in time."

"Oh, well... thank you for the fortune reading, Mr. Name Rater!" I said as I was about to leave the tent.

"Uh uh uh, Name Rating is free, but Fortune Reading costs 100 Pokédollars," the old man insisted.

"Here you go, bye!" I said after paying.

When I walked out of the tent, I suddenly bumped into someone standing outside, and we both fell to the ground. I looked down to see I had bumped into Nico, who had an annoyed look on his face.

"Watch where you're going, Plumber-Breath!" Nico snapped.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that!" I hissed. "Why are you even near this area? Were you going to nickname your Pokémon?"

"As if! Only an idiot like you would go to get a nickname rated! Besides, why would anyone even need to nickname something that's only good for battling?"

"Now who's the idiot? I've told you this before, Nico, Pokémon aren't just tools for battling! They can be your friends!"

"If you don't want to be called an idiot, girly, then don't say stupid things like that. And FYI, I was on my way to the city dentist after _you_ punched one of my teeth out!"

"I'll do it again if I have to..." I muttered.

"Ooh, I'm _soo_ scared!" Nico exclaimed sarcastically, "The only reason you managed to punch me is because you got upset over nothing. I bet you couldn't hit the bright side of a barn!"

Proving his taunts wrong, I angrily kneed him in the worst possible place a boy could get hit. As Nico gripped his injured area with both of his hands, he let out a high pitched squeal of pain as he tried to walk away from me.

"You're going to pay for that, Plumber-Breath!" Nico screeched.

"For the record, the name's Ritsu and don't you forget it!" I yelled. "Man, what an ass..."

Suddenly, I got a call from the Bike Shop owner, saying that customers were flowing in like no tomorrow, and as promised, I got to keep the bike. Happy, I decided to pedal over to Route 35 to train some of my team. As I was training the girls (and Braxton), I was suddenly approached by a cute little Nidoran .

"Hey lady," Nidoran said in a young voice, "Is you a Pokémon Trainer?"

"Why yes, little one," I answered, "I am a Pokémon Trainer."

"Sweet! Can I come with yous?" Nidoran asked.

"Sure! The more the merrier! What's your name, little guy?"

"The name's Spike," Spike introduced, "What's yours?"

"Ritsu! It's nice to have you on the team, Spike!" I exclaimed after catching Spike in a Pokéball. But, once his Pokéball clicked shut, Spike was instantly sent to the PC Boxes. Deciding to go get him later, I trained my team some more until we were strong enough to take down Whitney. Determined to get my third badge, I hastily pedaled back to Goldenrod City, and entered the Gym.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** Spike the Nidoran, Male, Modest nature, Hates to lose.

**Deaths:** None.

**Boxed/Unboxed:** Spike the Nidoran.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Did you find the reference and the foreshadow? It wasn't really much of one, but it was still there! Anways, stay tuned for Chapter 10!


	10. Let's Try Not To Have A Cow!

**Author's Note:** Well, now we're at the halfway point of chapters compared to my White Nuzlocke (which has 20 chapters)! In this chapter, we're going to face Whitney and her Miltank from hell! So, enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

The inside of the Gym looked extremely feminine. I did think the Clefairy-shaped ornaments were adorable, and the flowers were a nice touch, but the room reeked of over used perfume products. As I passed through the Gym, the women that worked there kept trying to offer me fancy perfume bottles and make up supplies, but I just ignored them.

"It's always nice to have a lovely girl come into the Gym," one of them remarked, "Whenever a _boy_ comes in here, I'm always afraid they'll stench up the place or something!"

"Boys will never understand how hard it is to be beautiful," another one said.

"Miss, are you sure you don't want some color on those lips?" another lady asked me, "You look like you'd enjoy this new 'Swoobat-Sweet' lipstick!"

"No thanks again," I groaned. "Sheesh, just let me get to my battle so I can leave."

After traversing the Gym's complex maze (while trying not to get an unwanted makeover), I finally made it to Whitney.

"Oh hey!" Whitney chirped, "You must be, like, the new challenger!"

"Yeah, I am," I said.

"So you, like, know the rules, right?" Whitney asked. "If you beat me, you get this badge thingy! But if you, like, lose or something, then I'm totes gonna give you a makeover!"

"Sounds fair enough," I agreed, "Shall we begin the battle?"

"You bet, girlfriend! Clefairy, like, come on out to, like, battle!"

Once Clefairy was on the battlefield, I sent out Yui to battle it. Yui knocked Clefairy to its feet with a Quick Attack.

"Clefairy, use that move with where you, like, wag your hands back and forth!" Whitney called out.

"You mean, Metronome?" I asked.

"Metra-what now?" Whitney asked confused.

"Holy Arceus, you're dumb," I thought.

Clefairy waved its glowing hands back and forth, until it randomly used Shadow Ball. When the Shadow Ball was unleashed, it simply poofed away when it hit Yui, leaving her completely unscathed.

"What?" Whitney squeaked, "Why didn't it work? Shouldn't Ghost moves have some kind of magic power to hit things?"

"_This_ is the almighty powerful Whitney?" Yui scoffed. "She doesn't even know that Ghost-type moves don't work on her own specialty type!"

"You're telling me," I replied, "Alright, Yui, finish with Fury Swipes!"

As Yui repeatedly slashed her claws into Clefairy's body, Clefairy fell to the ground with a thud. Once Whitney returned Clefairy to its Pokéball, and sent out her most dreaded Pokémon: Miltank.

"You know what I don't get?" Whitney stated, "Everytime I send out Milty to battle a Trainer, they always lose for some reason. And when the do lose, they get all, like, defensive and stuff!"

"Brace yourself, Yui!" I warned, "I heard her Miltank is not a force to be reckoned with!"

"Gotcha!" Yui confirmed.

"Use Cut!" I commanded.

Much to my luck, Miltank was beginning to get weaker. But, before I could get Yui to use the next move, Whitney had Miltank use Milk Drink, which made it look like I hadn't attacked.

"Aw, what?!" Yui and I exclaimed.

"Now use, like, Rollout!" Whitney said next.

Because of Miltank's weight, the many times it had rolled over Yui were complete torture. On each roll, I winced as I heard a few bones crack, and I noticed one of Yui's paws was twisted at an angle it shouldn't be at.

"Y-Yui?" I whimpered.

"Now, like, finish with Stomp!" Whitney commanded.

Once Miltank brought its foot down onto Yui's back, both Whitney and I shuddered as we heard a loud CRACK sound. Crying, I rushed over to Yui's side. As unfortunately expected, her spine was broken, and she had not survived the attacks.

"Is your Pokémon alright, hon?" Whitney asked, feeling a little guilty, "Because she doesn't look okay enough to battle and—"

"No! She's _dead_, you idiot!" I snapped tearfully, "You're stupid Miltank broke her spine!"

"Oh..." Whitney gasped, "I'm so, like, sorry that happened."

"You're gonna be sorry..." I sneered, "Ellen, take the show and use Poison Gas!"

Once Ellen was released from her Pokéball, she released a toxic purple gas from her snout onto Miltank. For a few short seconds, it appeared to have gotten poisoned, but it ate its secret Lum Berry and felt better.

"Milty, use Rollout!" Whitney commanded.

Much to my horror, Miltank had run Ellen over only once, but still managed to break her neck and ribcage. As she coughed out a large amount of blood, Ellen slumped to the ground. I quickly ran over to check her pulse, but unfortunately, there wasn't even a single beat.

"Man, why do your Pokémon keep, like, dying and stuff?" Whitney asked cluelessly.

"...You're gonna pay for this, you stupid cow!" I hollered.

"Hey, that's no way to talk to Milty!" Whitney snapped as she hugged her Miltank.

"Wasn't talking about the Miltank," I said smugly, "Rose, take this bitch down!"

After Rose was released from her Pokéball, Whitney started giggling like an idiot (well, _bigger_ idiot).

"You're going to use a little Togepi to battle?" Whitney scoffed. "Is the cute little **baby** going to twy and hit Milty?"

"**I'M**. **NOT**. **A**. **BABY**!" I heard Rose screech.

"Rose, use Metronome!" I commanded.

"Yes ma'am!" Rose confirmed.

Rose waved her tiny hands quicker this time. Suddenly, she was engulfed in a cloak of flames, and rammed into Miltank, sending it harshly onto Whitney.

"Gwaaah!" Whitney wailed, "I lost!"

"That's for Yui and Ellen!" I screeched. "I'm out of here, and I don't want to see you ever again!"

"Wait a minute!" a Lass said, "You can't leave without a badge!"

"Watch me," I insisted as I tried to walk away while carrying Yui's body and dragging Ellen's.

"No, she's right," Whitney sniffed, "You won the battle, like, fair and square. So, I present you with the Plain Badge thingy!"

"Heh, look Rose, the badge is all ours!" I gloated.

"And Ritsu," Whitney started.

"Yeah?" I asked still upset over Yui and Ellen's deaths.

"I'm really really, like, sorry about your Pokémon," Whitney apologized sincerely. "I honestly, like, didn't mean for this to happen."

"Apology accepted," I sighed. "Can you do me one last favor and help me lay them to rest?"

"Like, sure! That be, like, soo rad of me to help you out!"

After waiting for Whitney to meet me on Route 35, she finally arrived with some flowers and a Squirtle-shaped watering can.

"I got these from the Goldenrod Flower Shop!" Whitney exclaimed. "They also gave me this SquirtBottle that I'd like to give to you as an 'I'm Sorry' gift!"

"Thanks, Whitney," I said.

Once we laid Ellen and Yui to rest in two separate graves, I let my tears fall to the ground as I said one final goodbye to my fallen friends. After Whitney went back to the Gym, I somberly continued my walk. Then, I felt Rose gently nuzzle herself against my chest.

"Don't be sad, Ritsu," Rose assured, "It wasn't your fault."

"I know, Rosie," I said, "But, I can't help but miss them both. What if I keep losing Pokémon after this?"

"Even if it does happen, you won't lose everyone in a battle. I mean, did you see the way I beat that Miltank?"

"Mmm-hmm! You were so strong, Rosie!" I giggled as I playfully bounced Rose up and down.

"Whee!" Rose squeaked.

As I was bouncing Rose, Blaze suddenly came out of her Pokéball with a bitter expression.

"Hey, before you keep going gaga over that little omelet," Blaze hissed, "We've got a journey to focus on."

"Blaze, there's no reason to be so green-eyed every time I play with Rose a little bit," I said.

"What are you talking about?" Blaze asked, "My eyes aren't green, they're red."

"No, Blaze. When I say 'green-eyed', it means 'jealous'."

"I am not jealous!" Blaze objected, "I just don't like it when you talk to that Togepi thing."

"Whatever floats your boat, Blaze," I sighed.

"Just so you know, Miss Blaze," Rose stated cheerfully, "I think we could be really good friends!"

"Save it, pee-wee," Blaze hissed.

"Ritsu, why is Miss Blaze so mean to me?" Rose sniffed.

"Don't worry, Rose," I assured, "Blaze just has a hard time getting used to new teammates is all. She'll 'warm up' to you eventually!"

"Ha ha," Blaze laughed sarcastically, "That wasn't even funny when Elm said it."

After a few minutes of walking, we finally reached a place called National Park. Because it was still early in the day, everything looked really peaceful. Just as I could feel myself relaxing, I heard a sharp cry of distress coming from the nearby large grass patch.

"Someone help!" the voice cried.

"Come on, we've got to help them!" I exclaimed.

The one calling for help turned out to be a Hoothoot (what it was doing awake in the morning was beyond me) being assaulted by a gang of Weedle.

"If I wasn't so tired," Hoothoot yawned, "You bugs would get it for sure!"

"Rose, do you mind lending a hand?" I asked.

"Not at all!" Rose exclaimed.

"Great. Use Headbutt!"

Rose began to run quickly, then jumped head-first into the group of Weedle.

"You're gonna pay for that, little girl!" Weedle hissed.

The Weedle gang was about to charge at Rose with their Toxic horns, but then she fiercely used her signature Metronome attack. The move that came up was a Flamethrower attack, which burnt the Weedle to a crisp.

"Don't mess with little Rosie!" Rose taunted. "Oh, wow! That was so cool!"

Suddenly, Rose began to literally glow brightly. Much to mine and Hoothoot's surprise, Rose's body began to grow longer, and even started to form wings on her back. When she stopped glowing, Rose was now a Togetic.

"I guess you're not so little anymore, huh Rose?" I asked.

"Ma'am..." Hoothoot said as he began to blush a little bit, "You saved my life! From now on, I am forever in your debt."

"It was no problem!" Rose said, "Anything for a Pokémon chum! My name's Rose, what's yours, mister?"

"Aloysius," Hoothoot responded. "But you can simply call me 'Louie'."

"Okay, nice to meet you, Louie!" Rose beamed.

"So, um, Miss Rose," Louie said, blushing, "Would you like to fly back to my nest and, um... get to know each other better?"

"Rose, time to go!" I chirped as I scooped her into my arms.

"Unhand my lady, you savage cur!" Louie screeched as he began to peck my thigh.

"Ow ow ow! Please stop it!"

"Release the Togetic, or I shall peck your thigh off!"

"Stop it! I'm not kidnapping her, I'm her trainer!"

As soon as Louie heard those words, he immediately stopped pecking me. He bowed in shame for the misunderstanding.

"Sorry, miss," Louie apologized, "I didn't know."

"It's alright," I said, "My name is Ritsu, and your name is Louie, right?"

"Indeed. Since my dear sweet Rose is _your_ Pokémon, may I accompany you? This way, I can fulfill my debt to her for saving my life."

"Sure, I don't see why not," I agreed as I tapped a Pokéball onto Louie's head.

Once Louie's Pokéball clicked shut, I put it away and kept walking with Rose flying by my side.

"Mister Louie is really weird, huh?" Rose said. "Why's he so nice to me and stuff?"

"Maybe he likes you," I suggested. "After all, you did save his life!"

"Uh-huh..." Rose said.

Heading east from the National Park, we finally came across Route 36. The walk was halted when I came across an odd looking tree. Out of curiosity, I poked the "tree" under its "branches", and it began to wiggle. Smirking, I got an idea as I pulled out the SquirtBottle Whitney had given me.

"Surely, a lot of plants love water?" I said as I poured water on the "tree".

The minute enough water had touched the "tree", the "tree" actually turned out to be a Sudowoodo. Since Sudowoodo are Rock-types, it screeched like a little girl who had just seen an Ariados.

"**HOLY DAMNIN' HELL, DAT'S COLD WATA**!" Sudowoodo shrieked as it ran away, "**THE WATA'S GONNA KILL US ALL**! **KILL US AAAALL**!"

"...Okay, I'm going to pretend that didn't just happen..." I said extremely dumbfound. "Shall we carry on to Ecruteak City, Rose?"

"Sounds good to me, Ritsu," Rose said, equally creeped out.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** Louie the Hoothoot, Male, Adamant nature, Alert to sounds.

**Deaths:** Yui the Furret, Lvl. 4-21

Ellen the Drowzee, Lvl. 10-18

**Boxed/Unboxed:** None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Writing Whitney's lines in this was _pretty_ fun for me. I imagine her to talk like Abridged!Mami (if you've heard of the Madoka Magica Abridged series. That series is, like, the best). Well, stay tuned for Chapter 11 (which may be a little late tomorrow, since I'm going to the Currier with my dad)!


	11. Legendaries in Burned Tower?

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, here's that update I promised you! Man, I love being on good roll for writing! I get things done a lot quicker! Sadly, this is my last day of vacation, then it's back to High School on Monday. So anyways, enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

Ecruteak City wasn't big and flashy like Goldenrod, but it was still unique and pretty. As usual, the first stop was the Pokémon Center to heal my team, and get a few bandages for the cuts Louie pecked onto my thighs and legs. Just as I was about to get to the front counter, some random guy suddenly cut in front of me.

"Hey! That's rude, sir!" I snapped.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there, Miss," the guy apologized. "My name is Bill, and I run the Pokémon Storage system here in Johto."

"Nice to meet you, Bill," I greeted, "My name is Ritsu."

"What happened to your legs?" Bill asked pointing to the bloody cuts on my leg areas.

"Oh that. My Hoothoot Louie thought I was a threat before I caught him, and tried to defend himself."

"I see. Well, it was nice meeting you, Ritsu!"

After healing my Pokémon and bandaging my cuts (the Nurse Joy was nice enough to give me a little First-Aid Kit too), I decided to check out the Ecruteak Dance Theater. But when I got in, I saw a woman in a fancy kimono being harassed by a Team Rocket Grunt.

"Listen, bitch," the Grunt demanded, "You're gonna do what I say, and if you don't, things are gonna get ugly real fast!"

"I will never listen to someone like you!" the Kimono Girl hissed in her usual Japanese accent.

Outraged, I marched up to the stage to put a stop to the Grunt's actions.

"Ah! You're that dumb kid that screwed us over in the Slowpoke Well!" the Grunt exclaimed. "Why don't you run along, and beat—"

His sentence was cut off by Rose kicking him in the head. Rubbing his head in pain, he stormed out the door in a huff.

"You must be Ritsu, right?" the Kimono Girl asked. "Thank you for saving me from trouble."

"Your very welcome, ma'am," I said.

"And so polite, too. Not like that red-haired boy that was in here earlier."

"Red-haired boy? Was his name Nico by any chance?"

"Yes. He was quite rude, and even talked negatively to his Pokémon, even to a point where he called them 'worthless' or 'trash'. People like that make me absolutely sick..."

"I'll be sure to teach him a lesson..." I thought. "Well, I'll be on my way now!"

I was thinking about challenging the Gym right away, but something else had immediately caught my eye. I saw what looked like a tower, but it looked like it was nearly destroyed from a fire. Although the sign said "Stay away, this tower is unsafe", I wanted to check it out anyway. When I walked inside, I gazed down a huge hole in the floor. My eyes widened with wonder as I found myself looking at the three legendary Pokémon of Johto: Raikou, Entei, and Suicune.

"You there, girl," a man wearing a purple outfit and a white cape said as he approached me, "You see those three too, right?"

"Um, yes..." I responded uneasily. "Who are you?"

"Oh! Right, where are my manners? My name is Eusine, and I'm on a quest to pursue the legendary Suicune."

"Well, it's downstairs, so why not just go?"

"Because, every time I try to get close to Suicune, it and its brothers just run away from me! So, that's why I'm looking at it closely with my friend Morty over there."

"To be honest," Morty said, "I'm actually here to make sure this idiot doesn't do anything stupid."

Deciding to check it out for myself, I was about to take the wooden ladder down. But, before I could even take a step down, I was pulled back up by none other than Nico.

"Well well well," Nico said smugly, "If it isn't Plumber-Breath the crotch-kicker."

"I thought I told you to never _ever_ call me that, Nico!" I hissed, "The name's Ritsu; R-I-T-S-U!"

"Yeah yeah yeah," Nico shrugged. "Listen, girly; you see those legendaries down in that hole? I'm going to catch them, and they're gonna do my bidding to make me stronger!"

"You'll have to fight me first before I let that happen, Nico!" I exclaimed.

"You got it, girly!" Nico said as he sent out his new Magnemite.

I sent Blaze out to deal with it, and she instantly took it down with Flame Wheel. Gritting his teeth, Nico sent out his Croconaw (Blaze's number one rival).

"Croconaw, use Bite!" Nico called out.

"Blaze, use SmokeScreen when he opens his mouth!" I cried.

As the black smoke entered Croconaw's throat, it began to cough violently.

"Stop fooling around and douse that rat with Water Gun!" Nico snapped.

"Rat?!" Blaze shouted angrily.

Distracted by Nico's insult, Blaze found herself soaking wet once the Water Gun had hit her. Shivering, she shook herself dry and took Croconaw out with a Flame Wheel and a few Quick Attacks. Nico's next Pokémon was his Zubat, so I sent out Erin to fight (despite the type disadvantage).

"Ha! You're really going to use a stupid Oddish to fight against a partial Flying-type?" Nico scoffed, "Use Wing Attack!"

Much to Nico's surprise, Erin swiftly dodged the attack. I told her to use Sleep Powder, and one whiff of the green stuff put Zubat to sleep instantly.

"Absolutely pathetic..." Nico grumbled as he returned his Zubat to its ball. "Alright, toots, no more messing around! Gastly, come out!"

"Rose, take it down!" I called as I threw Rose's Pokéball. "Rose, be a dear, and use your 'special move', won't you?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Rose said as she moved her arms back and forth.

"Pffft, I doubt a stupid Togetic could even use Metronome right," Nico scoffed, "The move probably won't even be anything special."

However, the move Rose had selected was one beyond my imagination. She released an echoing howl and a super strong blast of wind at Gastly. But, because the blast was so strong, the floor below me and Nico collapsed, causing us to fall to the floor below. The crash was enough to startle the legendary Pokémon, and sent Raikou and Entei running. Suicune, however, just stared me in the eyes with wonder, lightly licked my cheek, and fled. My surprise ended when I realized I was on top of Nico again.

"G-Get off of me!" Nico snapped, blushing. "Gah!"

"What's wrong with you?" I asked.

"N-Nothing!" Nico lied as he clutched his arm.

"Let me see your arm," I said.

"Leave me alone! I'm fine!" Nico objected.

I successfully forced him to lift his hand off of his right arm, which had a huge bleeding cut that touched his shoulder. Deciding not to let it go untreated, I got out the First Aid Kit that I got from the Pokémon Center and took out a cloth and some wound disinfectant.

"Nico, hold still!" I said trying to touch the wound with the wet cloth, "If you don't let me treat it, you'll get an infection!"

"I don't care, don't touch my arm!" Nico hissed.

When I finally managed to get the cloth onto the wound, Nico drew himself back from the sting of the disinfectant.

"Gah! That hurts!" Nico shrieked.

"If you'd hold still, it wouldn't hurt as much!" I objected. "Besides, just be lucky I'm even treating it."

I slowly rubbed the wound with the cloth, and Nico started to calm down a bit. Once the cut was cleaned up, I carefully wrapped a long bandage around it and tied it in a small bow.

"...T-Thanks, I guess," Nico said as he began to blush. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Even if you are a complete ass, I couldn't let you leave with a bloody arm!" I stated.

"Yeah well, whatever," Nico scoffed, "You may have won that battle earlier, but you're still never gonna be better than me!"

"We'll see, Nico," I said, smirking.

"Hmph, see you later, Ritsu," Nico said as he used an Escape Rope to leave the hole.

"Hey, he finally didn't call me 'Plumber-Breath' or 'girly'!" I exclaimed.

"What was _that_ about?" Nico thought, still blushing, "And why's my heart beating so fast? Ah whatever, just ignore it, Nico, just ignore it."

Then, Eusine and Morty climbed into the hole to help me back up. Well, Morty helped me up, but as soon as we got upstairs again, Eusine shook me furiously.

"What is with you?!" Eusine snapped, "Your stupid fall scared away my Suicune!"

"Oh, sorry..." I said meekly.

"You don't have to apologize," Morty assured, "Eusine's just overreacting."

"I am not overreacting, Mort!" Eusine exclaimed. "And don't think I didn't see you get licked by Suicune, little girl! You're gonna get it now!"

"I'm not a little girl, I'm thirteen!" I shouted, "And my name is Ritsu!"

"I don't care! From now on, I'm going to get closer to Suicune, even if it means getting rid of you personally! Suicune **will** be mine, and mine alone!"

"Don't worry about my crazy friend, Ritsu," Morty assured me, "He's just obsessed with that one legendary Pokémon is all. Say, why don't you come battle my Gym later on?"

"Will do, Morty! Will do!" I agreed.

As I watched Morty leave, I was suddenly approached by a Koffing.

"Hey there," Koffing greeted in a deep and raspy voice, "Name's Marley."

"Nice to meet you, Marley!" I chirped.

Deciding that having a pure Poison-type on the team would be helpful, I easily caught Marley with almost no hassle. After a quick healing at the Pokémon Center, I hastily rushed into the Ecruteak Gym to battle Morty.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained: **Marley the Koffing, Male, Hardy nature, Often scatters things.

**Deaths:** None.

**Boxed/Unboxed:** None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** In case you guys were wondering, the move Rose used was Aeroblast (she actually did that in my game, I kid you not). So, stay tuned for Chapter 12 (which will be up very very soon)!


	12. Marley Ascends

**Author's Note:** Okay, here's a quick update for ya! In this chapter is the battle with Ecruteak Gym Leader Morty! So, enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

When I entered the Gym, everything was completely shrouded in darkness. Unlike the other Gyms, battling the Gym workers was actually necessary if I wanted to reach Morty. Before I could step forward, the Gym guide guy told me to take my shoes off first. Each time Marley and Louie took down an old Medium sister, they lit up their lanterns. After defeating the last Medium old lady, I could finally see well enough to reach Morty.

"Ready to battle, Ritsu?" Morty asked.

"You bet! Louie, come on out!"

"Haunter, take charge!" Morty exclaimed.

Haunter's first move was Curse, which weakened both it and Marley. While Haunter was still weakened, I sprayed Marley with a Super Potion, and he defeated Haunter with two Assurance attacks.

"Quite remarkable, young lady," Morty remarked. "But I'm not through yet! Gastly, come on out!"

I switched Marley for Louie. Since Louie was part Normal-type, Ghost-type moves had no effect on him.

"Clever little sneak," Morty thought, "Gastly, use Curse!"

Gastly summoned a ghostly nail that pounded itself into its head and Louie. Despite being a little dizzy, Louie was still strong enough to fight.

"Louie, use Hypnosis!" I called out.

Louie's eyes glowed a bright red, and Gastly fell into a deep sleep. Louie managed to KO the already weakened Gastly with a new Confusion attack. However, the minute Gastly was defeated, Louie was surrounded by many glowing feathers. His body grew slightly taller and his he now had two feet instead of one. Once the magic glowing feathers vanished, Louie was now a Noctowl.

"Louie, you evolved!" I beamed, "Hmm, maybe you'll finally impress Rose!"

"Y-You think so?" Louie chirped cutely.

"Who knows? But right now, let's focus on winning the Fog Badge!"

Morty decided to use Gengar as his final Pokémon. Not even close to being worried, Louie simply used another Hypnosis attack. Unfortunately for him though, this one missed Gengar.

"Gengar, show them what a _real_ Hypnosis is all about!" Morty exclaimed.

Unlike Louie's previous attempt, Gengar actually managed to entrance Louie into a deep sleep.

"Now, finish with Sucker Punch!" Morty called out

Gengar quickly snuck behind the sleeping Louie, and bashed its fist into his body, knocking both me and him backwards. Luckily, Morty caught me and Louie in time so we wouldn't fall into the dark abyss below.

"That was close, huh?" Morty remarked.

"_Way_ too close!" I exclaimed.

Seeing Louie was still sleeping and too weakened to battle any further, I withdrew him and sent out Marley.

"Be careful, okay Marley?" I pleaded, "You're not immune to Ghost-types unlike Louie."

"I don't need caution, I'll just take it down with Selfdestruct!" Marley exclaimed proudly.

"What?! No, Marley, Normal-type attacks don't wo—"

Before I could even get the last word out, Marley began to glow bright white. Sensing danger, Morty and I guarded our Pokémon from the explosion. When I tearfully looked up, all that was left of Marley was a pile of purple rubble.

"Why'd you do it, Mar?" I sniffed as I began to break down, "Why?!"

"I'm so sorry about your Koffing, Ritsu," Morty said sincerely.

"It's alright, Morty," I assured him, "Let's just continue with the battle."

I sent Erin out to finish the job. She managed to easily subdue the Gengar with her new Mega Drain attack, followed by an Acid attack. Suddenly, Erin was surrounded by a tornado of toxic leaves. She grew bulkier, got arms and legs, and the weed on her head turned into a large flower. Once the transformation was complete, Erin was now a Gloom.

"My my my," Morty remarked, "You've defeated me, _and_ two of your Pokémon evolved. I'm impressed. Well, here's Gym Badge number four; the Fog Badge."

"Thanks..." I said somberly as I accepted the badge.

"You know, Ritsu," Morty said, "If you scatter your Koffing's remains into the Gym's mysterious abyss, his soul will live on in the Spirit World."

"Really?" I asked, "Then how come if a person falls in, they just get sent back to the beginning of the room?"

"It's called the _Spirit_ World for a reason, you know," Morty sighed. "The Spirits don't care much for living things."

As I scooped up the purple rubble, I blew it into the abyss below. Suddenly, the rubble took the form of a ghost version of Marley.

"Goodbye, Marley," I sniffed as I put my arms around his form.

"Bye, Ritsu," Marley's ghost said, "Even though we haven't spent much time together, I'm still gonna miss ya..."

"Me too, buddy. Me too."

Marley's ghost closed his blank white eyes, and faded away to the afterlife. With my eyes still red from crying, I bid Morty goodbye and left the Gym. I promised myself that I wouldn't let anyone else die under my care, and after Marley's death, I was determined to make sure my Pokémon are safe.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** None.

**Deaths:** Marley the Koffing, Lvl. 16-25.

**Boxed/Unboxed:** Spike the Nidoran (Unboxed)

* * *

**Author's Note:** When I was writing out Marley's passing scene, I listened to "Oogway Ascends" from the first Kung Fu Panda movie. It seemed pretty fitting and equally sad. Anyways, stay tuned for Chapter 13!


	13. Beach Blanket Drama!

**Author's Note:** Okay, here's the Chapter 13 (which is the last chapter I have already written out at the moment). Nothing major really happens in this chapter, just a little trip to the beach is all. So, I hope you still enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

On Route 38, I decided to let Spike out to train, and asked Rose to watch him. I told them both not to go too far. While I waited, I decided to battle a few of the local trainers on the Route, starting with a Beauty named Valerie.

"Alright, Skiploom!" Valerie exclaimed, "Use Tackle!"

"Blaze, dodge and use Flame Wheel!" I cried.

Skiploom unsuccessfully tried to ram itself into Blaze's body, but she quickly jumped high and rolled over Skiploom in a ball of intense heat.

"Wow, you're good!" Valerie complimented.

"Thanks! Do you want to continue the battle?" I asked.

"Nah, I just wanted to see how good your Pokémon were, and I'd say they're League material!"

"Hee-hee, thanks!" I giggled. "I wonder how Rose and Spike are—"

I was cut from my thoughts when I heard the sound of Spike screaming in pain. I rushed over to his and Rose's area, only to find Spike being brutally chewed between the large teeth of a Raticate. I was about to have Rose use Headbutt on it, but the Raticate quickly spat out my wounded Nidoran, and cringed due to ingesting some of Spike's poison.

"Spike, are you alright?!" I asked concerned. "Rose, I thought you were watching him!"

"I was, but then this Raticate attacked us, and was dumb enough to think Spike was a tasty treat!"

"R-Ritsu..." Spike pleaded in a faint voice, "Help me..."

"Don't worry, Spike, you're gonna be okay!" I assured.

Panicking, I swiftly ran all the way to Route 39.

"Hey there, little girl!" an old man said to me, "Would you like to—"

"Excuse me, sir! Coming through!" I exclaimed as I shoved him out of the way.

I finally made it into the warm and sunny city of Olivine. Once I reached the Pokémon Center, the Nurse Joy and her Chansey sprayed Spike's wounds with a Super Potion. Relieved that Spike had been treated, I was about to take him back when Nurse Joy stopped me.

"Hold it," she said, "Although you're Pokémon's wounds are treated, he's still got a few broken bones, and has contracted a minor infection. I'm afraid he's going to have to stay here overnight, okay?"

"Okay," I sighed.

Walking out of the Pokémon Center, Rose fluttered over to my side to cheer me up.

"I'm sorry, Ritsu," Rose apologized, "If I had been more responsible, Spike wouldn't have gotten hurt..."

"It's okay, Rose," I assured, "I'm not mad at you. Besides, I have confidence that Spike will be fine! Before we prepare for the Gym Battle here, why don't we have a little R&R?"

"Yeah! Can you say 'day at the Beach', Ritsu?" Rose asked.

"Day at the Beach!" I exclaimed.

I ran over to the Olivine Beach Shop near the Gym to get some supplies (like a few shovels and pails, beach towels, a cooler, a beach umbrella with a tropical design, and most importantly, snacks and drinks). Once all the stuff was purchased, I walked out of the shop with a bright smile on my face. Suddenly, Nico came bursting out of the Olivine Gym.

"R-Ritsu!" Nico sputtered as his heart skipped a beat.

"Stay back!" I warned as I held Rose out in front of me, "I've got a Togetic that knows Metronome, and I'm not afraid to use her!"

"Calm down," Nico huffed, "I'm not gonna waste my time with you. And you might as well forget about that Gym Battle."

"And why's that?" I asked. "Where's the Gym Leader?"

"She's at the Lighthouse. Apparently, her Ampharos came down with something, and she said something about 'not leaving Amphy's side until he's better'. Pffft, what kind of moron would cancel a Gym Battle all because some stupid Pokémon got sick?"

"At least she's thoughtful about her Pokémon!" I scolded, firmly putting a finger on his forehead and came face-to-face with him.

"Sheesh, d-don't get so close to my face!" Nico said as he began to blush.

"What's wrong with your face, anyways?" I asked, gently putting my hand on his forehead, "It's all red and hot. Are you sick or something?"

"N-No I'm not, stupid!" Nico objected as his face turned even redder than his hair. "Why do you even care?"

"I don't really, I was just wondering if you were sick or not. It's not that big of a deal."

"Yeah, well don't be such a softie!" Nico mocked as he flicked my forehead. "Now, stay out of my way!"

As Nico walked away, he felt his heart racing again and his palms were sweating a bit.

"There's that feeling again," Nico thought, "What the hell is wrong with me? And why do I feel so strange around Ritsu?"

"That boy is seriously getting on my nerves..." I sighed, "I wish he'd just leave me alone..."

"Just forget about him," Rose suggested, "We've got a spot on the beach with our name on it!"

Excited, I rushed over to the Olivine Beach and found a nice little spot near the water. Once I changed into my dark pink two-piece bathing suit, I let my whole team out for a little fresh air. Erin decided to play in the water, Louie was helping Rose make a big sandcastle, and Blaze decided to just lay down next to me as she sipped a Tamato Berry smoothie.

"Ahh," I sighed, "What a beautiful day! Nothing like a trip to the beach before the end of August, right Blaze?"

"It is pretty nice out," Blaze remarked.

"Nice enough for you to go swimming?"

"Don't push it, Ritsu."

"Hey, Blaze!" Rose chirped, "Wanna help me and Mister Louie make a sandcastle?"

"Ah beat it, yolk-for-brains," Blaze hissed, "I'm relaxing here."

"Don't insult my lady!" Louie screeched.

"No, it's okay, Mister Louie..." Rose sighed.

Not pleased at Blaze's outburst, I decided to go help them with their sandcastle. Just as I was beginning to get up, Blaze quickly tugged my ankle.

"Come on, Reets!" Blaze pleaded, "Why are you going to help that little omelet anyway?"

"Because unlike you, Blaze, I know how to be nice to others," I said sternly. "Now, until you decide to stop bullying Rose, stay put and don't come near us."

"B-But, Ritsu!" Blaze stuttered.

"No buts, Blaze. You're staying near the blanket, and that's final."

"...Fine, you'd rather hang out with Rose instead of me, then so be it!" Blaze snapped as she ran away with a few tears, "You're never gonna see me again!"

"Blaze, wait!" I cried. "Louie, Erin, you guys stay here! Rose and I are going to calm down Blaze!"

Zipping across the beach towards Blaze, I stopped as I found her bowing her head and crying.

"Are you okay, Blaze?" I asked.

"Go away, Ritsu!" Blaze sniffed tearfully, "After all, you've got Rose to hang with!"

"But, Blaze, you're my best Pokémon friend!"

"Yeah right! If I were your best Pokémon friend, then you wouldn't favor Rose over me!"

"Blaze, I don't favor Rose over you. I love all of my Pokémon equally, but you were being mean to Rose when she tries to make friends with you!"

"I told you, I don't want anything to do with her at all!"

"Why, Blaze?!" I asked angrily, "Why do you get so defensive whenever I spend time with Rose? I promise if you tell me, I'll understand."

"Alright, I'll tell you," Blaze sighed. "Back when I was a wild Cyndaquil, my parents always favored my big brothers over me. Every damned day it be all 'Oliver this' or 'Garrett that', never poor little lonely Blaze! Whenever Ollie and Garrett went to go hunt if Mom and Dad couldn't, I'd always see it as my chance to interact with them. But whenever I did, they barely said a word to me! It just wasn't fair! And whenever you went all 'gaga' over Rose, it just brought the memories right back!"

"Miss Blaze..." Rose said as shocked as I was, "I never knew... I'm so sorry!"

"I'm sorry too. It was selfish of me to think you were just being jealous of Rose, when this whole time, you were just feeling left out."

I sincerely hugged Blaze once she accepted my apology. We noticed Rose was standing there guiltily as well.

"So... truce?" Rose asked holding out her short arm.

"...Truce, kiddo," Blaze agreed shaking Rose's arm with her paw. "To be honest, I'm the one who's sorry for mistreating you."

"It's all water under the bridge!" Rose chirped. "Now, let's go back and have some beachy fun in the sun!"

"Please don't say that..." Blaze groaned.

Once the three of us returned to the blanket, Blaze actually went to go help Rose and Louie finish their sandcastle. When I went to go join Erin in the water, she came up to me with a sleeping Corsola on her head, and asked me if we could keep it. Agreeing, I captured the Corsola, and named her Kairi. As the sun was going down, we all had lunch, and decided to check into the Pokémon Center. That night, I struggled to get into my pajamas since I had gotten a sunburn on the beach.

"Oww..." I groaned, "I knew I forgot to do something at the beach..."

"Like put on sunscreen?" Kairi asked pointing to my puffy red skin.

"Don't remind me..." I said as I got into the bed. "You know, despite the intense sunburn I got, it would actually be nice to live here someday."

"It would, wouldn't it?" Kairi repeated, "Well goodnight, Ritsu,"

"Goodnight, Kairi," I said as I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** Kairi the Corsola, Female, Quiet nature, Likes to fight.

**Deaths:** None.

**Boxed/Unboxed:** None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Nothing really much to say afterwards (at least until this Author's Note gets edited), so stay tuned for Chapter 14!


	14. A Cure For Amphy the Ampharos!

**Author's Note:** Hi guys! Sorry for not updating, I got grounded from Sunday to Friday, and couldn't go on the computer! But, here's the moment you've all been waiting for: Chapter 14! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

The next day, I decided to give Mom a call to let her know how I'm doing. When she answered, she sounded extremely happy to hear me.

"Ritsu! You remembered to call me!" Mom beamed. "How's your journey coming along?"

"It's... going along pretty well," I said, not wanting to tell her about my dead Pokémon. "I've got four out of eight badges already!"

"That's wonderful, Ritsu! Anything else happen?"

"Well... there's this jerk I keep running into. His name's Nico, and he always seems to like bugging me."

"Hmm... how exactly does he 'bug' you, honey?" Mom asked.

"For starters, he always shoves me, calls me 'Plumber-Breath', and he seems to freak out whenever I get near him."

"Oooh!" Mom squealed excitedly, "It sounds like this Nico boy likes you, Ritsu!"

"W-What?!" I squeaked, "Mom, get serious. He's so mean to me!"

"But, have you seen him do any of the stuff you just listed to anyone else?"

"N-No... but come on, Mom! He hates me _and_ his Pokémon!"

"What? His Pokémon? Now who would hate their own Pokémon?"

"Nico would! He mistreats them, calls them 'worthless', and doesn't even thank them for all the hard work they go through for him! But don't you worry, Mom, I'm gonna straighten him out!"

"That's my little Ritsu! Ready to take charge! Call again soon, okay pumpkin?"

"Yes, Mom! And if I can't call you for some reason, I'll send you a few letters!"

Once Mom hung up, I hurried on over to the Gym to see if the Gym Leader was ready to battle. However, my heart sunk as I read a note on the door that said "Amphy's still sick; All battles are canceled until he gets better. If anyone wants to help, I'll be at the Glitter Lighthouse! Love, Jasmine.". Wanting to get the Mineral Badge as soon as possible, I hurried on over to Olivine City's famous Lighthouse. Since the elevator was out of order, I was forced to take a few flights of ladders. When I reached a certain floor, I discovered that the only way to go forward was to jump out onto the platform outside. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed Blaze and leaped out the window screaming at the top of my lungs. Luckily, Louie sprang out of his Pokéball to catch me and safely fly me down to the designated door.

"Thanks, Louie," I said as I returned him to his Pokéball.

After climbing even _more_ flights of stairs, I finally reached the beacon where Jasmine and Amphy were. Just looking at both Amphy _and_ Jasmine made me a little sad though. They both looked like they haven't eaten in days, but Jasmine was still trying to bring down Amphy's fever with a cold, damp cloth.

"Oh, hello there," Jasmine greeted weakly.

"Hello," I greeted back, "My name is Ritsu. You look really exhausted, so I brought you some orange slices and a bottle of fresh water."

"Thank you so much," Jasmine said as she ate the food I gave her. "Hey Ritsu, can you do me one little favor, if you don't mind?"

"Sure, what is it?" I asked.

"Amphy's getting worse by the hour. There's a pharmacy in a place called Cianwood City not too far from here. I need you to get a special medicine from there so I can treat Amphy."

"You got it, Jasmine!" I confirmed.

Looking at my Pokégear, I noticed that in order to get to Cianwood, I needed to cross the sea. Since I had recently taught Kairi Surf, I held onto her tightly as she zipped across the sea like a motorboat. Because she kept having to avoid obstacles like big rocks and Pokémon, water splashed everywhere on me. Once we got to Cianwood, I was soaked to the bone.

"Sorry, Ritsu," Kairi apologized.

"It's alright, Kairi," I assured, "I''l get dry eventually. Let's just get Amphy's medicine and go."

After I got the SecretPotion for free, I sailed back to Olivine City and hurried up the Lighthouse elevator to Jasmine and Amphy. But, when Jasmine fed Amphy the medicine, he didn't seem to be getting any better.

"W-Why isn't the potion working?" Jasmine choked as tears started to stream down her face, "Isn't this potion supposed to cure any ailment?!"

"I'm sorry, Jasmine," I apologized, "Maybe Amphy will get better with time."

"But what if he doesn't?!" Jasmine bawled, "What if he doesn't even live through it?!"

Suddenly, Amphy shakily reached for the water bottle I gave Jasmine earlier. As he finished off the water, he cleared his throat and actually looked healthier.

"Ah," I heard Amphy sigh, "I really needed that!"

"...He just needed water?!" Jasmine and I said in unison.

Happy that her Pokémon friend was healthy again, Jasmine tightly hugged Amphy. Then, a very bright light illuminated from Amphy as the entire beacon was flooded with brightness.

"Thank you so much, Ritsu," Jasmine thanked me, "I shall now return to the Gym. When you get the Storm Badge, come see me and I'll battle you, okay?"

"Okay!" I exclaimed.

Once I left the Glitter Lighthouse, I saw the old man I rushed past earlier. Feeling bad for pushing him, I decided to apologize.

"It's alright, little miss!" the old man insisted, "My name is Baoba, and I'm the owner of the new Johto Safari Zone!"

"The Safari Zone? What's that?" I asked.

"The Safari Zone is a place where all sorts of trainers go to catch new and rare Pokémon!" Baoba explained. "If you're interested, just come to Route 48!"

"I'll keep it in mind, Baoba," I said.

"And another thing; I have a special thing for you to do at the Safari Zone when you get there! Just register me in your Pokégear, and when your ready to come, I'll tell you what it is!"

As soon as I registered Baoba, he happily scampered away. The Safari Zone did sound like fun, but first, I had a Gym Badge in Cianwood to get.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** None.

**Deaths:** None.

**Boxed/Unboxed:** None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yeah, nothing much happened in this chapter. But, I promise interesting stuff will happen in Chapter 15! Stay tuned for it!


	15. Washed up in Cianwood!

**Author's Note:** Well, here's that update I promised! I really wanted to write this week, but I got distracted and my computer was going slow anyways. But I digress, so enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon, but I technically own Ritsu.

* * *

Once I sailed back to the small city of Cianwood, I noticed something towards the other side of the island. When I took a closer look, I was surprised to see Suicune again.

"You..." Suicune said, "You are the one known as Ritsu, correct?"

"Y-Yes," I confirmed, "Why is a legendary like you talking to someone like me, Suicune?"

"Because, I sense you are a very special trainer, Ritsu. You have an immense amount of potential and a pure heart inside of you. Besides, you're not insane like—"

"Suicune~!" I heard Eusine chirp as he rushed in our direction, "I've finally found you, my precious legendary Pokémon!"

"I must leave," Suicune told me, "Farewell, Ritsu!"

As Eusine watched Suicune disappear with a look of anguish, his expression quickly turned to bitter anger as he turned to me with a face so red that it could make a Tamato Berry look light pink.

"You..." Eusine seethed, "Why does Suicune not run away from you?!"

"I don't know, Eusine," I said, "Honest!"

"Don't give me that bullshit!" Eusine hissed, "I can see now that the one thing that comes between me and my Suicune is you! So, I'm going to make sure you're eliminated for good!"

Eusine sent out his Drowzee to use Confusion to pin me against the rock wall.

"Heh heh," Eusine chuckled darkly, "Once Drowzee disposes of you, I can finally be with Suicune! Drowzee, constrict her tighter!"

The sensation of being constricted was awful. It felt like my very skeleton was shrinking and there was no room to breath. Gasping, I pressed my finger onto one of my Pokéballs, and summoned Louie. Once Louie attacked Drowzee with a Sky Attack, I crashed to the ground gasping for breath.

"Are you alright, Ritsu?" Louie asked.

"Yeah..." I gasped, "I think I'll be fine. I'll...send Rose out to help you take care of Eusine."

Eusine sent out his Haunter to aid Drowzee in the battle. Louie began to charge at Drowzee, but was stopped when he was caught in a Confusion attack.

"Drowzee, finish off that annoying Noctowl!" Eusine cried out. "And as for you, Haunter, do whatever you please with the Togetic."

"With pleasure, boss," I heard Haunter say.

"I'd like to see you try! Ghosts can't hurt us Normal-types!" Rose boasted.

"Well, young Togetic, we'll just see about that," Haunter said sinisterly as he approached Rose.

"H-Hey, what are you doing?!" Rose squeaked as she squirmed in Haunter's grasp.

"Whatever I please..." Haunter whispered.

Much to my surprise, Haunter wrapped its long and slimy tongue around Rose's neck. As it slithered all over her body, Rose started to whimper with fear as the tongue slid across her mouth. Although I was horrified, I could tell Louie was getting furious as he watched Rose being violated by Haunter.

"Now that she's too shocked to attack, use Cur—wha?!" Eusine gasped.

A very infuriated Louie broke itself free from the Confusion by giving quite a beat-down to Drowzee.

"**DO. NOT.** **DEFILE.** **ROSE**!" Louie screeched as he lunged out at the Haunter, "**I SHALL KILL YOU**!"

Louie then proceeded to give Haunter a beat-down that was even more brutal than Drowzee's. Despite both Pokémon being defeated, Louie's rage was not even close to being quelled. He then harshly attacked Eusine for letting Haunter hurt Rose in the first place. I quickly pulled my angry Noctowl off of Eusine.

"If you _ever_ come near my lady like that again, it will be your neck!" Louie hissed.

"Hmph," Eusine pouted, "I guess I'm unable to do anymore damage here, so I'll be back to get rid of you another time!"

As Eusine quickly fled, Louie and I rushed over to Rose's side. She was shivering and covered in ghost slobber.

"Are you alright, my lady?" Louie asked.

"A little slimy and really creeped out, but I think I'll be fine," Rose assured, "I just hope I never see that Haunter again!"

"Don't worry," I said, still weak from the Confusion ambush, "Let's just... go get that..."

Before I could finish my sentence, everything faded to black and I collapsed to the ground. When I woke up, I found myself in someone's home and staring at a beautiful young woman.

"Oh, you're awake," the woman said, "I found you unconscious on the beach, so I thought I'd bring you in until you were better."

"That was very nice of you, ma'am," I replied, "Thank you very much."

"Your welcome, young one. Were you about to go to the Cianwood Gym by any chance?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Because, I'm the Gym Leader's wife, Pamela. If you can beat my dear Chuck, then I'll give you this handy Hidden Machine!"

Pamela showed me a disc that contained a move called Fly. Amazed, I decided to go with the deal, and hurried out of the house. Once I healed my team at the Pokémon Center, I walked into the Cianwood Gym. The blast of the rushing waterfall drowned out the voices of all the trainers in that Gym. Still anxious to get the Storm Badge, I scurried up to get Chuck's attention.

"Um, Mr. Chuck?" I asked, poking him, "I'd like to challenge you to a battle, please!"

But, with a closer glance, I noticed Chuck was sleeping underneath the ferocious waterfall. Seeing an odd switch in the back of the Gym, I walked up the stairs and harshly cranked it; shutting off the waterfall.

"Hmm, wha?!" Chuck slurred as he bolted awake. "H-Hey! Who interrupted my na—er, training?!"

"I did, Chuck," I said, "I'd like to be your next challenger!"

"Hmph, alright then! But, I'm not going easy on ya, little girl!" Chuck exclaimed fiercely.

Chuck decided to use his Primape as his first Pokémon. Naturally, I sent Louie out to take it on in a matter of seconds.

"Primape, use Focus Punch!" Chuck commanded.

Primape swung its fist into Louie's body, sending him backwards through the air. Despite the impact of the blow, Louie swiftly soared down towards Primape, and critically damaged it with an Air Slash.

"Now, Louie! Finish with Peck!" I cried.

As soon as Louie's glowing beak made an impact with Primape's body, it fainted instantly due to already being weakened.

"You're not a bad trainer, Ritsu," Chuck remarked, "But, I've still got one Pokémon left!"

I sent out Kairi to fight for the first time, but I started to regret it as Chuck's last Pokémon turned out to be a Poliwrath. When I was about to send Kairi back, she assured me that she'd be alright battling a Pokémon that had an advantage over her. Having complete trust in my Corsola, I decided to let her battle.

"Poliwrath, use Surf!" Chuck called out.

Poliwrath spread its arms out, and the Gym's waterfall began to change into a giant tidal wave. As it made the wave crash down, Kairi braced herself and leaped through the water until she was surfing on top of the wave. Panicking, Poliwrath swirled its arms all around in a futile attempt to shake Kairi off.

"I'm not giving up so easily!" Kairi declared bravely.

"That's the spirit, Kairi!" I exclaimed, "Use AncientPower!"

Kairi's body began to briefly glow white until she summoned a huge rock. Once she was fully charged, she fired the rock at Poliwrath, critically knocking it onto its back.

"Hey, I think we did it!" I cheered.

"Don't be too sure yet!" Chuck warned, "Poliwrath, use Body Slam!"

With a sharp determination in its eyes, Poliwrath leaped up, and crashed itself onto Kairi. Once it got off, Kairi shakily tried to stand firm.

"Now, finish it with Focus Punch!" Chuck cried.

Not wanting to lose Kairi, I tossed Erin's Pokéball, and she instantly grabbed Poliwrath's fist before it could reach the wounded Kairi. Surprised, Poliwrath tried to yank its fist out of Erin's grip, but had no luck.

"...Don't hurt my buddy," Erin said sternly, but also slightly irked.

Erin then proceeded to grab Poliwrath's arm with both hands, and harshly tossed it across the room and into the wall behind the waterfall. Amazed at Erin's strength and protectiveness towards Kairi, Chuck hastily returned Poliwrath to its Pokéball.

"Your Pokémon have some strength!" Chuck remarked, "For defeating me, I'm gonna give you the Storm Badge!"

Excited about my new badge, I congratulated Erin and Kairi for doing such a good job. After getting my promised Hidden Machine from Pamela, I went to the Pokémon Center to heal Erin and Kairi's wounds. But, as soon as they came back healthy, the Cianwood Nurse Joy called me over.

"Yes, what is it?" I asked, "Is something wrong?"

"You're name is Ritsu, right?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Uh-huh," I nodded.

"Well, I just got a call from my sister in Olivine about your Nidoran."

"What?! Is Spike okay?!"

"...That's why I called you over here. Let's just say... you need to hurry back to the Olivine City Pokémon Center."

Knowing that this couldn't possibly mean anything good, I ran to the ocean and began to surf back to Olivine while grabbing onto Kairi. As we were about to pass the mysterious Whirl Islands, however, an mysterious SonicBoom suddenly struck me and Kairi from out of nowhere. Wounded, I grabbed Kairi under my arm and clung onto a rock near one of the islands. But, much to my surprise, I looked up to see Eusine and his Electrode with evil looks on their faces.

"I told you I'd get rid of you," Eusine said darkly, "Now you'll never steal Suicune from me ever again! Electrode, finish her off with Thunder!"

The last things I felt before slipping unconscious was the brutal burning of a lightning shock, and rapidly swirling as I was engulfed in water. When I next woke up, I found myself on top of a Tentacruel's head.

"Oh, goody! You're awake!" Tentacruel beamed in a jolly voice, "You were in really bad shape when I found you under one of the whirlpools, Miss."

"D-Did... Did you save me?" I asked.

"You bet I did! My name is Clarence, what's yours?"

"Ritsu. It's a pleasure to—wait! Where is she?!"

"Where's who?" Clarence asked.

"Kairi! My Corsola is gone!" I squeaked panicking.

"...Oh. I'm sorry to tell you this, Ritsu, but... you were the only one I found in the whirlpool. I'm afraid your friend is gone."

"G-Gone?!" I sobbed, "What do you mean 'gone'?"

"I mean she's been buried at sea," Clarence somberly told me. "When I saw you and Kairi get hit by lightning, you were so unconscious you didn't notice her body shatter into hundreds of pieces. I'm sorry."

"N-No, no!" I bawled tearfully, "She can't be, she just can't be!"

Still in denial about Kairi's demise, I tried to leap into the sea to find her body, but Clarence grabbed me with one of his tentacles.

"Let me go, Clarence!" I screamed, "I've got to find her!"

"Ritsu, I told you, she's gone! If you went to find her now, you wouldn't be able to find anything!" Clarence exclaimed.

As Clarence put me back on his head, I buried my face into my hands and sobbed harder.

"This is awful..." I sniffed, "W-What am I going to tell Erin?! She'll be heartbroken!"

Wiping my tears from my face, I asked Clarence to take me back to Olivine City. While he sailed away from the islands, I tearfully whispered a final goodbye to the direction of wherever Kairi's remains were scattered.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** Clarence the Tentacruel, Male, Timid nature, Highly curious.

**Deaths:** Kairi the Corsola, Lvl. 20-32

**Boxed/Unboxed:** None.


	16. Healing Bitter Wounds!

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, I got this chapter done over the weekend along with a couple of others! If you look closely in this chapter, you'll find a reference to "The Most Popular Girls In School". BTW, when I wrote the comfort scene on the beach, I was playing a song called "True Colors". So anyways, enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon, but I do own Ritsu.

* * *

Upon returning to Olivine City, I hurried into the Pokémon Center to see what was wrong with Spike. Still wracked with grief over Kairi's death, I hoped that they managed to treat Spike's infection.

"Oh, Ritsu," Nurse Joy said, "You've come."

"Is Spike alright?" I asked with anticipating eyes that were still red from crying.

"...Ritsu..." Nurse Joy explained sincerely, "We're so sorry, but your Nidoran's infection had spread to his liver and heart, and he died earlier this morning."

I just couldn't believe it. As I felt my heart shatter into millions of pieces, I once again broke down crying with my face buried in my hands. It was painful enough that I had lost Kairi, but the pain had intensified now that Spike was gone in the same day.

"We're sorry, Ritsu," Nurse Joy apologized as she rubbed my back sincerely, "We really did try our best to save him."

"...I'm... just going to go now," was all I could think to say.

Running out of the door in tears, I headed to Olivine Beach. I sat down and hugged my knees as I started to look back on all of the friends who had died over the course of my journey. Lamar, Hermia, Yui, Ellen, Marley, Kairi, and now little Spike. As my sobs got harder and louder, Blaze and the gang all came out of their Pokéballs.

"W-What are you guys doing out?" I asked tearfully.

"We wanted to cheer you up," Rose explained, "We don't like seeing you so sad."

"Ritsu, we know how you're feeling about Spike and Kairi right now," Louie said, "But, their deaths were not your fault."

"But, if I had been a better trainer to them, then they'd still be alive!" I choked.

"You are a better trainer, Ritsu," Blaze assured, "We're happy to be your Pokémon, and we'll always stick by your side!"

"After all, you treat us _way_ better than that Nico jerk treats his Pokémon!" Rose added.

"A-And, I may not know you long, but you did show me how much you cared about Kairi when you wanted to save her!" Clarence pointed out.

"Ritsu..." Erin said to me.

"E-Erin!" I sniffed, "I'm sorry! I know Kairi was your best friend, and you probably hate me for letting her die and—"

"Ritsu," Erin interrupted, "I don't hate you at all! I mean, sure, I'm sad that I lost my best friend, but from what I've heard from the others, it was that rat Eusine's fault, and not yours! I couldn't hate you even if I tried; you're the best trainer a Gloom could hope to have!"

Tears were forming in my eyes again, but this time, they were tears of happiness. I shakily spread my arms out, and everyone gave me a heartwarming hug (Clarence was careful not to strangle everybody). No longer feeling sorry for myself, I returned everyone to their Pokéballs (except for Blaze) and began to prepare for my next Gym Battle against Jasmine.

"Reets, why are you buying so many healing items?" Blaze asked, "Jasmine's a Steel-type Gym Leader; I'll just burn her Gym to a crisp! It'll be so easy!"

"Just like I thought Whitney would be so easy?" I reminded her.

"Mmm, point taken," Blaze answered.

As I entered the Gym, there were actually no trainers for me to battle before I get to Jasmine. So, I walked up to her a little confused.

"Um, Jasmine?" I asked, "Where are all your Gym workers?"

"Oh, they're on a lunch break," Jasmine explained, "They won't be back until six this evening. So, would you like to battle me, Ritsu?"

"Yes I would!" I exclaimed.

"I was hoping you would say that. Magnemites, come on out!"

As planned, I sent out Blaze to take both Magnemites down at once. One of them managed to wound Blaze with a SonicBoom attack, but she still stood strong.

"Is that all you got?" Blaze asked smugly.

"Blaze, weaken them with Swift, and then finish with Flame Wheel!" I cried out.

Blaze summoned several sharp star-bolts and fired them towards her opponents. Suddenly, both Magnemites were engulfed in Blaze's Flame Wheel attack, and fainted instantly.

"I should have expected this from a Fire-type..." Jasmine sighed, "Alright, Rusty, this is your chance!"

"Blaze, I think you should take a break for a bit," I suggested, "It wouldn't be fair to the others if you took all the glory."

"Alright, switch me out," Blaze agreed with slight disappointment in her voice.

"Clarence, come on out!" I cried, tossing my Tentacruel's Pokéball.

"Rusty, use Iron Tail!" Jasmine told her Steelix.

"Clarence, block it using Barrier!" I called.

As Rusty began to swing its tail onto Clarence, the attack was blocked as Clarence conjured up a magic force field.

"Now, use Water Pulse!" I commanded.

Clarence's eyes began to glow blue as he released a giant ring of aquatic energy. The Water Pulse harshly struck Rusty, causing it to become confused.

"Rusty! Try to focus and use Rock Throw!" Jasmine ordered.

Unfortunately, luck was not on Jasmine's side. When Rusty conjured up its rock, it accidentally made the rock hit it in the head, making it crash to the ground.

"You did your best, girl," Jasmine said as she returned Rusty to its Pokéball. "Well, Ritsu, you really are quite the trainer. First, you help my friend Amphy get over his sickness, and now, you've defeated me fair and square in a Gym Battle. Out of all of my challengers today, you are definitely the most deserving of the Mineral Badge."

Elated that I had obtained my sixth Johto badge, I merrily walked out of the Gym with Blaze by my side. Before I headed off to the next city, I decided to sit down inside the Pokémon Center and write a letter to Mom (using the Space Mail I bought in Goldenrod) to let her know how I was doing. I securely tied it to Louie, and had him fly to New Bark Town. I had also told him to wait us in Mahogany Town when he had finished the delivery.

"Let's see, the only way to Mahogany Town is to cut through Ecruteak, so I guess I head this way!" I exclaimed, looking at my Pokégear.

Hopping onto my bicycle, I quickly pedaled through Ecruteak City, and I finally stopped when I came across the lake of Route 42. I called Clarence out of his Pokéball and into the lake, put Blaze into my shoulder-bag , and hopped onto his head.

"D-Don't let me out of this bag!" Blaze stuttered, "Fire-types don't take too kindly to water!"

"Calm down, Blaze, I won't let you fall into the water," I assured her.

"Eeep! What is a Tentacruel doing in this lake?" I heard from a female French accent somewhere.

I looked down from Clarence to see a frightened Goldeen squirting the three of us with water. As I shook my damp head, I attempted to console it.

"Please don't be afraid," I assured, "Clarence won't hurt you."

"Oh! Well, madame, I wasn't afraid; I was just merely, how do you say, 'surprised'?" Goldeen said.

"What do you mean 'how do you say'? You just said it!" Blaze exclaimed, still shivering from my bag, "And next time, don't squirt us with water!"

"So anyways, where were you three heading to?" Goldeen asked.

"We were on our way to Mahogany Town!" Clarence announced.

"Sounds tres genial!" Goldeen exclaimed, "I would love to join you on your travels!"

"Well, join the team then!" I said, cheerily.

"Salut!" Goldeen greeted, "Je m'appelle Madame Eloise Claire Laverna Julietta III! Et toi, fille jeune?"

"Um, what was that you said?" I asked, "I'm afraid I don't speak French."

"Oh, je suis desole!" Goldeen apologized, "I said 'Hello, my name is Madame Eloise Claire Laverna Julietta III! And you, young girl?'"

"My name is Ritsu, and the soaking wet Quilava in my bag is Blaze!" I replied, "It's nice to meet you Eloise Claire... um, what was it again?"

"If my name is too hard to remember, you are free to simply call me 'Lady'."

"Okay! Nice to meet you, Lady!"

"Yeah, nice to meet you, I guess," Blaze said in her usual bitter tone, "Just don't come too close to me. Got it, Fishy?"

"Well, va te faire foutre to you too," Lady muttered. "Anyways, I hope we get on with the journey, how do you say, 'soon'?"

"Soon!" Blaze hissed angrily, "That's exactly how you say 'soon', Lady! It's pretty damn obvious that you know how to say it since you, oh I don't know, just said it!?"

"Blaze, don't let this get to you," I told her, "It's not really a big deal."

"Fine," Blaze grumbled, "But I'm not going to like it."

It only took us less than ten minutes to complete the sail across the lake and safely arrive in Mahogany Town. Once I got off of Clarence, I returned him and Lady to their Pokéballs since they couldn't walk on land. As expected, Louie was waiting for us on the town sign. I noticed he had a Heart Mail in his mouth, so I took out the letter to read it.

"Hey, it's from Mom!" I exclaimed.

"What's it say?" Blaze asked.

The letter read: _Dear Ritsu, I'm so happy to know that you're doing well! You've even got six out of eight badges so far! Also, I've got some very exciting news to tell you! Some time after you left on your journey, I decided to travel over to the Ruins of Alph near Violet City for a little 'adventure'. I was exploring inside one of the caves when I met this amazing guy! His name is Jared, and he's an archeologist who works at the ruins! He's kind, funny, loves children, and treats his Pokémon with love and care! We've been seeing each other ever since that day, and we love each other so much! Jared says he can't wait to meet you, so visit if you have the time, okay? –Mom._

"Wow..." I breathed, "Mom's got a boyfriend."

"Is something wrong, Ritsu?" Louie asked. "You sound a little discouraged."

"What? No no, not at all!" I objected, "In fact, I'm actually really happy for Mom! Before my journey, she's been so lonely since Dad practically abandoned the two of us, and I think it's about time she has another guy to love in her life."

"Hmm, maybe this Jared guy will be your new step-dad, Ritsu!" Blaze suggested.

"Now now, let's not rush things," I warned, "Although it would be nice to finally know what it's like to have a dad, I think we should give Mom's new relationship a little more time before we jump to conclusions!"

"If your mother can get a boyfriend like that, then I wonder why you're still single?" Louie wondered.

"That's not important, Louie," I said sternly, "Maybe I'll find the right guy someday, but right now, I'm focusing on completing my journey! Besides, that Name Rater fortune teller said that I'm going to get married when I'm nineteen!"

"But to whom?" Louie asked.

"That's enough, Aloysius," I said returning Louie to his Pokéball.

After briefly looking at the small town, I decided to check out what was outside of it. But, I was quickly stopped by a man carrying a bag full of weird bars.

"Hold it! Hoooold everything!" the man exclaimed, "I can't let you leave without buying one of these!"

"What is that, sir?" I asked in my usual polite tone.

"Why, it's a RageCandyBar! Only the finest in town! Now you can have one for only 300 Pokédollars!"

"Thanks, but I'm afraid I don't—"

"If you don't, I'll stalk you day and night until you say yes."

"Erm, deal," I agreed, handing him the money.

Once the RageCandyBar was purchased, I tried to walk out again. However, the man still stopped me from leaving.

"I thought you said I could wander out!" I squeaked.

"Yeah... I lied. You see, we have a little problem with these hoodlums in black outfits at the Lake of Rage, and I thought you'd be able to take care of it."

"Team Rocket is here?!" I gasped, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it! Which way is the Lake of Rage?"

"Directly north from the town."

"Thank you!"

The Gym battle was going to have to wait for now. Determined to protect the town, I quickly headed off to the Lake of Rage to stop whatever Team Rocket was planning.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** Lady the Goldeen, Female, Hasty nature, Loves to eat.

**Deaths:** Spike the Nidoran, Lvl. 12-15

**Boxed/Unboxed:** None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Did you catch the reference (because my older sister sure did when she read it while I was typing it)? Well, it's okay if you didn't, it's not a very blatant one! As a side note, I'm actually taking French this year! Stay tuned for Chapter 17!


	17. Soothing the Savage Red Beast!

**Author's Note:** Hey look! Another sudden chapter for ya! Sometimes, I'll write a few chapters at a time, and upload them all at once! Enjoy the chapter (even though it's not very long...)!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon, but I do own Ritsu.

* * *

I was about to take the shortcut to the lake, but I stopped as I saw a piece of paper duct taped to the sign that read "If you peasants want to pass through here, you must pay 1,000 Pokédollars. No dough, no go! Love, Team Rocket.". Sighing, I decided to take the forest route around it. Just as I was hurrying through the forest, I got a sudden call from Ethan.

"What is it, Ethan?" I asked, "This really isn't a good time right now."

"Sorry, Reets," Ethan apologized, "I just wanted to call and tell you that my Azurill egg just hatched, and now Marill has a new baby sister!"

"Oh! Well, congratulations!" I chirped. "How are they getting along?"

"Well... Azurill is very loving and cheery towards her big brother, but Marill doesn't seem to want anything to do with her."

"Don't worry, I had the same problem with my Quilava and my Togetic! They'll get along eventually!"

"If you say so..." Ethan sighed, "Well, I'll call you some other time, Ritsu!"

The second Ethan hung up, I continued my journey to the Lake of Rage. However, I was stopped again when I was ambushed by a little Flaaffy.

"Where are you going, stranger?" Flaaffy asked.

"The Lake of Rage," I answered.

"No! You can't! I heard there's an angry red Gyarados attacking innocents!" Flaaffy insisted.

"It's okay," I assured, "I'm sure I'll live!"

"W-Well, can I come with you to make sure you do?" Flaaffy shyly asked.

"Sure!" I said, "What's your name, little one?"

"M-Merida," Merida answered.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Merida," I said as I captured her in a Pokéball.

Strangely, when I captured Merida, Clarence's Pokéball got boxed instead of hers. Deciding to condone it, I went further to the Lake of Rage, where it was down-pouring.

"Aww, come on!" Blaze complained, "Is there any place where I _don't_ get wet?!"

Not paying attention to Blaze's complaint, I gazed out at the lake with surprise. I saw a the shiny Gyarados that Merida mentioned going on a rampage.

"The Gyarados is not happy!" an old man squeaked, "This is a _very_ bad omen indeed! If only someone were brave enough to calm it down!"

With a brave look on my face, I called Lady out, and she began to carry me in the Red Gyarados' direction. Ignoring the old man's pleas for me to come back, I had Lady stop when we were a fair distance from the Red Gyarados.

"Gyarados, what's wrong?!" I asked.

"Gaaahhh!" Gyarados roared as it slammed its tail down in front of me.

As a large splash of water made me completely drenched, I decided to calm the Red Gyarados down by using my Pokémon.

"Merida!" I cried tossing her Pokéball into the air, "Paralyze it with Thunder Wave!"

While she soared through the air, Merida managed to get a grip on the Gyarados' head. Although terrified, she released a weak current of electricity, making the Gyarados immobilized completely. As it shakily lowered its head down to my height, I began to gently stroke one of its whiskers.

"Shh," I said soothingly, "It's okay, Gyarados. Everything is going to be fine. Now, please tell me what made you go on a rampage."

"...H-Horrible noises," Gyarados explained calmly, "I used to be a regular Magikarp before this day. I suddenly heard these horrible sounds, and I instantly evolved into a shiny Gyarados. The evolution was so sudden that I freaked out and went on a rampage."

"Don't worry, I know change is surprising, but I assure you; everything will be okay," I told it.

"Thank you, young human girl," Gyarados said sincerely as it swam underwater once I gave it a Cheri Berry.

"Hmm, I wonder where those noises came from..." I pondered as I returned Merida to her Pokéball.

I noticed a Red Scale leftover from the Gyarados floating in the water, so I picked up the pretty object as a cute little trinket. When Lady and I swam back to shore, I noticed a handsome young man with short and spiky red hair wearing a dark blue uniform and a black cape. Having a slight idea on who it was, I rushed over to confirm my conjecture.

"That Gyarados must have been forced to evolve..." the man pondered, "But how?"

When he turned his face towards me, I realized that the man was none other than the Champion of Johto Lance. I suddenly felt my heart race and my face turn red.

"Oh, hello there," Lance greeted, "Are you Ritsu by any chance?"

"He knows my name!" I squeaked mentally. "Um, y-yes I am, Champion Lance!"

"I don't mind just being called Lance," Lance insisted. "I saw the way you soothed the Red Gyarados, and I'm quite impressed by your battling skills."

"R-Really?!" I squeaked, still blushing, "T-Thank you, Lance."

"Don't mention it. I actually came here to the Lake of Rage to investigate why the Red Gyarados had evolved so suddenly, so would you like to tag along?"

"M-Me?!" I gasped nervously, "I mean, sure, I wouldn't mind helping you!"

"Splendid!" Lance chirped, "I've heard rumors about the source of the problem coming from a shop in Mahogany Town, so meet me there, okay?"

"O-Okay!" I confirmed. "Hey Lady, is it me, or is Lance really handsome in person?"

"Well, I will say he is tres mignon," Lady remarked in a slightly flirty tone. "And judging by your excitement around him, you'd agree."

"Umm..."

"Oh right, you don't understand French. Tres mignon is French for 'very cute', and since you're starting to develop an obvious crush on ze Champion, you agree with my statement, no?"

"U-Umm!" I stuttered as I started to blush again, "Well... maybe I have taken a teeny-weeny little liking towards him..."

"It doesn't sound so 'teeny-weeny' to me," Lady objected.

"Please just return to your Pokéball, Lady," I said as Lady disappeared into her Pokéball in a flash of red light.

Ignoring the perpetual down-pour, I unfolded my bike from my bag and began to pedal as quick as I could back to Mahogany Town.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** Merida the Flaaffy, Female, Bashful nature, Likes to run.

**Deaths:** None.

**Boxed/Unboxed:** Clarence the Tentacruel (Boxed).

* * *

**Author's Note:** I'm bad at Author's Notes, but I will probably say more in the next chapter! Stay tuned for Chapter 18!


	18. MRB: Their Real Emotions!

**Author's Note:** This is the last spontaneous chapter, so I'll probably work on Chapter 19 tomorrow! By the way, there will be a slight POV change at the end, so sorry if I screwed that up (To Briah: don't chew me out on it, it's supposed to be like that as part of the story)! That's what happens when I let my ships get the better of me again, I guess... So, before I ramble on, enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon, just Ritsu (and Nico, I guess).

* * *

Once I quickly returned to the town, I walked into the shop to see two weird guys tied up with duct tape on their mouths and Lance and his Dragonite standing near a large gold pedestal of some sort.

"These two were spies for Team Rocket," Lance explained, "According to them, this pedestal leads to the Team Rocket Hideout."

"How do we open it?" I asked.

"I guess by force," Lance shrugged, "Dragonite, use Hyper Beam!"

Dragonite unleashed a fully-charged beam of orange energy at the pedestal, causing it to shift aside and reveal a hidden staircase.

"The hideout is down there," Lance stated, "I'll look in one area of the hideout, and you look in another, okay?"

"Roger," I sighed, disappointed that I couldn't spend more time with Lance.

After Lance and Dragonite went in, Blaze and I followed suit. Suddenly, I stepped in front of an eerie Persian statue with glowing red eyes. I then heard a loud alarm and was ambushed by a Rocket Grunt.

"An intruder!" the Rocket Grunt exclaimed, "Get her, Drowzee!"

Without thinking, I tossed Merida's Pokéball in the air, and she came out in a white flash. The minute she laid eyes on the Drowzee, she quickly scurried backwards. But this time, the fear in her eyes was quickly replaced by courage.

"No, I'm not going to run away anymore!" Merida thought, "All those years of being called 'Wooly-Limbs' by the other Pokémon are over! I'm going to be brave from now on!"

"Merida, are you willing to fight?" I asked.

"Anytime!" Merida confirmed, "Now that I'm a captured Pokémon, I'm going to protect my new friends instead of being protected!"

"That's the spirit!" I chirped encouragingly, "Use Thundershock!"

Merida fired a powerful bolt of lightning at Drowzee, making it faint instantly. The Rocket Grunt then sent out his Zubat, so I sent Rose out to take it out.

"Zubat, use Wing Attack!" the Grunt cried.

Zubat smacked Rose with its wings, making her a little startled. But, she quickly KO'd it when I told her to use her special Extrasensory attack. After the Rocket Grunt retreated, the four of us were suddenly encountered by a female Rocket Grunt.

"That buffoon may have been a pushover, but I'm much different!" she boasted, "Rattatas and Zubat, take this brat out!"

"You ready girls?" I asked Merida, Rose, and Blaze.

"Ready!" they confirmed.

Merida managed to knock Zubat to the ground with Thundershock, and Rose finished it off with AncientPower. Blaze quickly managed to take down one of the Rattatas with Swift, but as she was about to attack the other, it struck first with Bite. Suddenly, the Rattata that injured Blaze started to glow and get bigger in size. When the glow stopped, it was now a ferocious Raticate.

"Wow, you've evolved!" the Grunt chirped, "Now, kill that stupid little Quilava and its friends with Hyper Fang!"

However, the minute Raticate opened up to bite Blaze, Merida unleashed a Cotton Spore and sent itchy white spores into its mouth. As Raticate was coughing, Rose used her Yawn attack on it, and it soon fell into a deep sleep.

"Now's your chance, Blaze!" Merida shouted.

With a brave grin on her face, Blaze used her Flame Wheel attack, and finished off the sleeping Raticate right away. After the Rocket Grunt ran off (rambling something about booby-traps), my three girl Pokémon looked at each other with awe.

"Man, we make a good team!" Merida pointed out.

"If the three of us worked as one, no one could stop us!" Blaze added, "We'd kick everyone's ass in a heartbeat!"

"Oooh! Maybe we should have a personal team name!" Rose exclaimed excitedly. "We could be... 'The Flaming Feathers'!"

"But what about Merida?" I asked, "She's not a Fire or Flying-type."

"Oh..." Rose said, "How about 'Team Wool-Fire Feather'?"

"That sounds stupid," Blaze groaned.

"I know, why don't we call ourselves simply 'MeRoBla'?" Merida asked.

"'MeRoBla'?" Blaze and Rose asked, "What's that stand for?"

"It's our initials shortened into one name!" Merida explained,

"Strange..." Blaze said, "But sounds pretty cool!"

"I like it too!" Rose chirped, "And if I can't remember the name, then we can just be called 'MRB', deal?"

"Deal!" Blaze and Merida agreed as all three of them did a three-way high-five.

I smiled at the sight of my Pokémon forming a little mini squad together, but I remembered I had other matters to attend to as well. Before heading further into the hideout, I told Merida to destroy any Persian statue-alarms until I found a switch to shut them off. As I walked, I managed to run into a tile that turned out to be a trap door. Before I could fall through, Rose caught me and flew me back up.

"I guess that lady wasn't kidding when she said something about booby-traps!" I panted. "Rose, use your Extrasensory to look for any hidden traps!"

"Aye aye, Ritsu!" Rose confirmed.

After about an hour of falling into booby-traps that Rose overlooked and statue smashing, I accidentally ran into a Team Rocket scientist.

"Hmm, a lost child, huh?" the scientist pondered, "No matter, I'll show you the way out via Magnemite trio!"

"That's not very polite," I thought, "Well girls, you know what to do!"

"It's showtime, girls!" Rose exclaimed bravely.

Merida unleashed her Thunder Wave attack, and paralyzed two out of the three Magnemite. Blaze KO'd the two paralyzed Magnemite with a simple but strong Ember attack. The non-paralyzed Magnemite tried to charge at Rose, but Merida grabbed it and sent a Thunder Wave through her hand.

"Now, Rose!" Merida cried as she tossed the paralyzed Magnemite across the air.

Nodding her head once, Rose used her AncientPower attack to crush the Magnemite against the wall. As we escaped the speechless scientist, Merida, Rose, and Blaze shared another three way high-five. Suddenly, Blaze was engulfed in a swirl of flames. Her body grew taller in size, and her head flame moved to her neck. When the flames died down, Blaze had evolved into a full fledged Typhlosion.

"Blaze, you're fully evolved now!" I beamed.

"Sweet! Now, let's go kick some more Team Rocket butt!" Blaze exclaimed.

We rushed down a staircase to luckily find Lance and his Dragonite.

"Are you alright, Ritsu?" Lance asked, "Let me heal your Pokémon with my special Pokémon medicine."

"T-Thanks..." I said, blushing.

"Well, I'm going to go ahead again," Lance said, "Meet me when we're a little closer to the locked doors!"

"Again?" I groaned.

Once Lance left again, I decided to follow the direction he was walking in. Along the way, the girls easily took down several Rocket Grunts. After going down to the lower level, I met up with Lance once again.

"Have you found the secret office yet?" I asked.

"Nope," Lance answered, "But when I do, I will come back and tell you where they are."

"Well, good luck Lance!" I said as I felt my face turning red again.

"Ritsu, you're face is red again," Lance pointed out as he touched my forehead with his hand, "Are you sick?"

"Ghaahh!" I squeaked as my heart began to race, "I-I'm fine, j-just please go find the secret office!"

"Gotcha," Lance said as he winked. "Dragonite, let's go!"

"He cares about me..." I thought with a smile on my blushing face, "Maybe he likes me back secretly! No no, Ritsu, don't be silly! He's the Champion, what would he want with a simple little girl like you?"

But, I was quickly pulled from my thoughts as I was suddenly surrounded by a group of Rocket Grunts. At first, I was a little intimidated by them, but it quickly died down as I saw that their Pokémon consisted of pretty much Venonats, Koffing, and Rattatas.

"You girls know what to do!" I chirped.

Blaze took down a handful of Pokémon with her new Lava Plume attack, Merida subdued a few more with some ThunderShocks, and lastly, Rose KO'd the last bunch with a Sweet Kiss followed by a brutal AncientPower.

"Retreat!" the Rocket Grunts cried as they absconded.

"That was easy!" Merida exclaimed.

Suddenly, Merida was surrounded by a wave of electrical energy. She grew taller, her wool disappeared, and her once pink coat turned yellow and black. When her evolution was complete, Merida was now an Ampharos.

"Another evolution for MeRoBla!" Rose chirped, "Right after Dr. B's evolution!"

"Dr. B?" Blaze asked in a slightly unamused tone.

"I thought I'd give a cute nickname to one of my teammates!" Rose explained.

"Just call me Blaze, Rose," Blaze groaned.

Just as I went to the lower floor, I suddenly ran into Nico. He quickly turned his head away from me, but I still caught the sight of him blushing.

"What are you doing here, Nico?" I asked.

"I think the question is what are you doing here?!" Nico snapped as he finally looked at me. "Why are you meddling with those stupid Rocket pricks?!"

"I'm trying to help someone teach them a lesson! Besides, since when do you care about what I do anyways?"

"I-I don't, Ritsu!" Nico lied, "I'm just here to battle those weak Rocket idiots!"

"Well, don't bother! Lance and I are going to take them down together!"

"You know him?! I just lost a battle to him earlier, and the stupid jackass told me I don't 'love and respect' my Pokémon!"

"Don't you _ever_ insult Lance like that!" I snapped, "He's the Champion and deserves to be respected! And as a matter of fact, Nico, Lance is right; you don't respect your Pokémon at all!"

"Hmph, defending your boyfriend, Ritsu?" Nico taunted. I could have sworn that I saw a hint of hurt in his eyes, but it was probably my imagination.

"He's not my boyfriend!" I objected, "And even if he was, what would you even care? You hate my guts!"

"...You're wrong..." Nico said under his breath as he lightly blushed, "I don't hate you at all..."

"What?"

"None of your business!" Nico hissed as he brutally shoved me, "Oh, why don't you do me a favor, and go hang out with your stupid _boyfriend_ Lance! I'm sure you two softies would be very happy together!"

* * *

As Nico ran off in a huff, warm tears started to stream down his face. He looked in the other direction and buried his forehead in his hand.

"She shouldn't like him..." Nico thought, "Ritsu's so dense that she can't see that she's way too good for that Lance jerk..."

"What's wrong, lad?" Feraligatr said as he came out of his Pokéball.

"None of your business!" Nico snapped, "And who told you you could come out?!"

"Ah did on mah own free will," Feraligatr replied in his usual Scottish accent. "Tell me what's wrong, lad. I'll listen."

"I said it's none of your business!"

"Fine, ah'll guess then. It's that pretty brown haired girl with the pigtails, isn't it?"

"W-What, you mean Ritsu?!" Nico shrieked, "Why would I be distressed over her?"

"Ahm noght stupid, lad," Feraligatr said, "It's pretty obvious that you're smitten with 'er."

"What the hell does 'smitten' mean?"

"It mean ya've fallen in love with her. You know, hit bah Cupid's arrow and all that stuff?"

"Don't be stupid!" Nico objected, blushing even harder, "I'm not in love with stupid Ritsu!"

"Ah come on, lad; everyone on the team can see through ya like glass! Me, Golbat, Haunter, Magnemite, even the new stolen kid Sneasel! And we've all been callin' ya out on it since the Burned Tower incident!"

All Nico could do was grit his teeth and growl as he felt his entire change to a bright shade of rose. He knew Feraligatr was completely right, but he refused to accept it.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Nico said as he returned Feraligatr to his Pokéball. "Maybe that old poot in Goldenrod City can tell me what's really up with me..."

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** None.

**Deaths:** None.

**Boxed/Unboxed: **None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Since I caught Merida, I've actually wanted to base her, Rose, and Blaze off of the Gullwings from FFX-2 a little bit! In this case, Merida=Yuna, Rose=Rikku, and Blaze=Paine. I even threw a few references to the game a little (and a note that my big sister needs to complete the game!)! The beginning of this chapter was even written while I listened to Real Emotion from said game (catchy as hell, go listen to it)! (By the way, "MeRoBla" is pronounced MEH-ROE-BLAY if anyone got confused. It's supposed to be like YuRiPa/YRP/Gullwings...) Stay tuned for Chapter 19!


	19. Mission: Take out the Hideout!

**Author's Note:** Alright guys (if you're still reading this, that is), here's an update for ya! Man, I'm killing it with long chapters in this story these days (unlike the update for my White Nuzlocke...) So, enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon, but I do own Ritsu and Nico.

* * *

Brushing myself off from Nico's harsh shove, I was feeling even more annoyed than ever at his actions. Although, I couldn't help but wonder why he was getting so defensive at the wonderful thought of Lance and I being together (which was unfortunately not true).

"Hey girls," I said, "Is it me, or did Nico seem a little..."

"Jealous?" Merida suggested.

"Pffft, why the heck would that red-haired brat be jealous of Lance?" Blaze scoffed, "He's probably just sore that Ritsu's hanging around with the Champion, and his 'manly pride' is hurt because of it!"

"I don't know," Merida doubted, "I think there's a deeper reason. Maybe, he was upset because he thinks Ritsu chose Lance over him or something?"

"Are you implying that he _likes_ me?" I asked in disbelief. "Merida, you're starting to sound like my mom!"

"Well, it seems pretty logical to me!" Merida retorted.

"Merida, we know you're the new girl on the team, and you don't know what's happened between Ritsu and Nico in the past, but that boy's a monster!" Rose exclaimed.

"All he does is taunt us, bitch and moan about always losing, and then he shoves Ritsu!" Blaze added, "He's the reason our old teammate Hermia's taking a dirt nap in Ilex Forest!"

"If you ask me, Merida," I said in a slightly stern tone, "The only thing Nico wants is my blood on his hands! Now come on, we have a Rocket Hideout to shut down."

As I stared at the locked door, I began to think of a way to get in without a password. My eyes lit up as I got a brilliant idea.

"Merida, can you use your electric powers to shut down the locking system?" I asked, smiling.

"Can do!" Merida confirmed.

Merida used her new ThunderPunch move to jam her fist into the password switch. The move contained so much electrical power that it caused a power surge strong enough to short out the lock on the door. Happy that my idea worked, I shoved both doors aside and entered the room. I was surprised to see a man with purple hair wearing a dark fedora and a fake black mustache.

"Ah, so you're Ritsu!" the man said in a slightly raspy voice, "We've been waiting for you!"

"Who are you?" I asked, "And how do you know my name?"

"Don't tell me you've never heard of me, the great Giovanni?!" the man exclaimed.

"...Um, sorry to be rude, sir," I pointed out sheepishly, "But you don't look at all like Giovanni."

"W-What?!" the man shrieked, "I thought my impression was flawless!"

"From what I've seen, I don't recall Giovanni having a mustache or purple hair," I added.

"Oh, boo! I guess you've seen right through me!" the man pouted as he threw off the fedora and false mustache. "I am actually Rocket Executive Petrel, and I'm going to stop you from getting the password from me!"

When Petrel stood up with three Pokéballs in his hand, I heard a loud _CRACK_ sound coming from him. His face twisted into a look of pain as he rubbed his back.

"Ahh, my damn back again," Petrel grumbled.

"You know, I don't think it's wise for an old man to fight in that condition!" I suggested.

"Who are you calling old, brat?!" Petrel said as he tossed his Pokéballs, "Attack!"

The Pokémon that came out were a Zubat, Raticate, and Koffing. My Pokémon looked pretty confident, and each of them decided to take down one at a time.

"Rose, use Extrasensory on Zubat!" I cried out.

Rose released a small wave of yellow and pink energy from her eyes, and the Zubat was being warped around until it was in an unrecognizable shape.

"Heh, you think you're so tough, ya little whippersnapper?" Petrel gloated, "Well, I'm not done just yet! Koffing, use SmokeScreen!"

Koffing released a gas that engulfed the entire room. As I was coughing, Blaze quickly made the gas vanish with her Lava Plume attack, and then proceeded to do the same thing with Koffing.

"Alright, Merida!" I cried out, "Take Raticate down with ThunderPunch!"

Merida's fist lit up with powerful electricity, and then she slammed it into the Raticate's face. A small bit of blood splattered onto the floor, and Raticate covered its still-bleeding mouth once it realized Merida had broken off a big chunk of its tooth.

"Gah! I lost to a young-in!" Petrel squeaked, "And you've ruined Raticate's tooth!"

"So, now that I've won," I said, "Are you gonna spill it with the password?"

"Ha! Don't bother trying to get it!" Petrel gloated, "Even if I do give you the password, it won't do anything! The doors will only open if the words 'Viva la Giovanni' are said with _my_ voice!"

"Damn it..." I thought.

"See ya later, sonny-girl!" Petrel cackled as he ran out of the room, "Ha ha ha—ACK! Ah, shouldn't laugh so hard..."

Just as I was about to give up, I noticed a small little Murkrow chained up by the ankle in the corner. It kept trying to fly away, but its shackles kept it from doing so.

"Oh, you poor little angel!" I gasped as I rushed to its side, "How did you get chained up like this?"

"My ex-trainer did it to me," Murkrow explained, "She found out about my special talent, so she chained me up and ditched me because I was considered a 'nuisance'."

"What's your special talent?" I asked.

"I can mimic people's voices flawlessly," Murkrow explained. "Listen to this: 'Hello, I'm old man Petrel! I'm in this stupid delusion that I'm still hip and young, when in reality, I'm just a 58-year old bag of dust!"

I blinked at the absolute perfection of the impression. Suddenly, my brain hatched another idea.

"Hey, Murkrow," I said, "I'll let you go if you do me a little favor."

"Yes, anything!" Murkrow begged.

"If you can lead me to the locked doors and say the words 'Viva la Giovanni', I'll let you come with me as free as a bird!"

"Although I'm already a bird, it's a deal!"

"Splendid!" I chirped as I had Blaze melt the metal with her hot touch.

Murkrow told me to follow him as he flew into the air. We went up and down many flights of stairs until we reached the locked doors Lance and I had been looking for. With a grin on his face, he shouted the password in Petrel's exact tone of voice. Once the last word was spoken, the doors opened instantly.

"Great job, Murkrow!" I beamed.

"Just call me 'Dante', babe," Dante insisted in a cool tone, "And you know, I wouldn't mind joining your little team!"

"Awesome!" I exclaimed as I caught him with a Pokéball.

Once Dante was caught, his Pokéball was instantly sent to the PC Storage System. Deciding to go get him back later, I walked into the secret room to see what was going on. My eyes widened with horror as I found myself looking at a huge generator powered by six tortured Electrodes. Just as I was about to go help three of them, I heard a loud female voice.

"Oh no you don't!" the voice exclaimed, "No little brat is going to screw us over again!"

"Who are you?" I asked as I turned around to face a red-haired woman wearing a white Executive uniform.

"If you must know, I'm known as Rocket Executive Ariana. And if I'm correct, you must be that stupid girl my nephew has taken a shine to."

"Your nephew?" I thought. "Who are you talking about?!"

"Hmph, I _might_ tell you," Ariana said, "If you can beat me in a battle! Gloom, take her down!"

Not even being remotely worried, I automatically had Blaze to take care of it since it was an easy burn-and-win.

"Gloom, use Acid!" Ariana called out.

"Gyahh!" Blaze shrieked as she was covered in the hot toxic liquid. "Okay, now I'm mad!"

"Use Lava Plume!" I cried.

Blaze stomped her foot; causing fire to spread out all around her, and onto the Gloom. Suffering from a nasty burn, Ariana called Gloom back to its Pokéball.

"Not bad, brat," Ariana remarked, "But you'll be no match for my Murkrow!"

Giving a whistle, Ariana listened for her the flapping of wings. However, the sound she longed for never came.

"What the hell?!" Ariana shrieked, "Murkrow, where are you?!"

"Wait a minute," I realized, "You're Dante's ex-trainer?!"

"Dante?! Who the hell is Dante?!"

"In case you're wondering where your Murkrow is, he's safe in my PC Box. Since you abandoned him, he decided that he'd be better off with me as his trainer!"

"Grr," Ariana snarled, "Whatever, he _was_ just an annoying repetitive Murkrow. No matter, I'll still kick your ass! Arbok, finish the job!"

"Rose, come on out!" I cried.

Ariana then began to laugh at the thought of a "puny" Togetic taking down a creature like Arbok. Angry at her taunting, Rose used Extrasensory to tie Arbok into a knot, and tossed it into Ariana herself.

"Urgh..." Ariana grumbled, "My back..."

"Now, are you finally going to tell me who this nephew of yours is?" I asked.

"Heh, you mean you haven't figured it out, you simpleton?" Ariana taunted, "How do you not see the family resemblance?"

"Resemblance? What are you—"

I gasped as I realized who Ariana looked like. The red hair, the cocky attitude, the abuse of their Pokémon. It all added up to one person.

"Nico..." I whispered.

"And that's not all!" Ariana said in a singsong tone, "My nephew is also the heir and son of our darling leader Giovanni!"

"What?!" I squeaked, "Then that means... you're Giovanni's sister?!"

"Correction, I'm his sister-in-law," Ariana explained in a bitter tone. "Granted, if luck had been on my side, I probably would have been his wife. But, no! Instead, my sweet Giovanni got married to my stupid softie of a sister, Liliana! Hmph, they always go with the kind ones... But, maybe now that he's left Liliana in the dust, I can finally get close to that cold-hearted bastard, and stupid little sister Lili can't stop me!"

"Looks like someone's got sibling issues," I said mentally.

"Well, before I start rambling on and on, I'm just going to say that there's no way you could shut down that generator!" Ariana gloated, "Good luck trying to free those stupid Electrodes!"

Once Ariana fled in a puff of smoke, Lance came running in my direction. He and Dragonite had a few cuts and scratches on their faces, but they looked like they were going to be fine.

"Looks like you found the generator before I did!" Lance remarked, "How did you get the password?"

"Let's just say a little birdie told me..." I said smirking. "Anyways, we have to destroy the generator somehow!"

"H-Hey, you two over there!" we heard one of the Electrode say, "We know how yous can turn this thing off!"

"Really?" Lance asked, "Tell us!"

"You ain't gonna like it, though," another Electrode said. "This generator ain't got no switch, so we're beggin' yous to put us out of our misery."

"What?!" Lance and I gasped, "You don't mean?!"

"Yous heard us..." an Electrode said wincing, "Yous gots to pull our plug... if you know what I mean."

"...You heard them, Ritsu," Lance sighed forlornly, "We have to set them free."

"B-But, Lance!" I choked.

"I know, Ritsu; I don't want to do it either, but according to them, it's the only way."

Sniffling, I went to one side of the generator and Lance went to the other. I tearfully had MRB kill one of each. Rose somberly used Extrasensory until one of them powered down. Merida used ThunderPunch to dig her fist into it and rip out what appeared to be the Electrode's heart. As the heart shorted out, the fallen Electrode slowly closed its eyes with a smile. As I noticed the generator was quickly losing energy, my vision became blurry from all of the tears flowing from my eyes.

"B-Blaze!" I sobbed, "I don't care what move you use, j-just finish the job!"

Just as Blaze was about to remorsefully put the final Electrode out of its misery, it told her not to attack it for some reason.

"Don't worry," Electrode insisted, "I can do it on my own. Yous might wanna stand back though."

Electrode started to glow bright white, so we instinctively jumped back as it exploded into hundreds of pieces. As the generator finally powered out, I began to uncontrollably weep into Lance's chest.

"Why..." I choked as Lance tried to comfort me, "Why did we have to do something like that?!"

"I don't know," Lance said forlornly as a few tears streamed from his eyes, "I just hope something like that never happens again, not even as a last resort."

"Those poor Electrode..." I sniffed, "Being used as a living battery like that... I know they would've been happy to be free this way, but still..."

"Ritsu... listen to me when I say this," Lance told me, "If you ever want to take my place as Champion one day, remember that the road is never easy. You will encounter tough times like these, but there's a big chance that everything will turn out right in the end."

"Believe me, I know," I sighed as I wiped the tears from my eyes. "I've had to witness my own Pokémon dying before my eyes, but that's not going to make me quit! I promise that one day, I'm going to be your successor, Lance!"

"That's the spirit, Ritsu," Lance said. "Also, I found this Hidden Machine on the floor, and I thought you'd like it!"

The Hidden Machine he handed me contained a move called Whirlpool. I was excited about teaching Lady the move, but the feeling faded when Lance told me I needed the power of the Glacier Badge for it to work outside of a battle. Once Lance and Dragonite were gone, I left the hideout using a panel that transported me to the inside of the shop.

"Well, after one quick trip to the Pokémon Center," I thought with a sense of courage, "It's off to the Mahogany Gym for us!"

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** Dante the Murkrow, Male, Calm nature, Scatters things often.

**Deaths:** None.

**Boxed/Unboxed:** Dante the Murkrow (Boxed)

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yeah, I put a little more depth into Nico's family line (not too much though, just a tiny bit)! Since it's almost time for me to go to bed, I'm just gonna say stay tuned for Chapter 20 like I always do!


	20. We're Finally Breaking the Ice!

**Author's Note:** The first part of one of my spontaneous updates (usually occurs on weekends, bonus points for me being homework-free)! This whole chapter is pretty much the fight with Pryce (who I almost called Brycen when I was typing the chapter), so enjoy! I'd also like to give a shout out to users **MagestyOfLove** and **Kane'sRightHand**for their reviews!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon, but I do own Ritsu and Nico.

* * *

Now that my Pokémon were fully healed, I quickly went inside of the Gym. The minute I stepped inside, I began to shiver from the intense cold. The Gym Guide guy gave me a winter coat that fit my size almost perfectly. But, when I stepped onto the Gym floor, I instantly slipped and fell on my butt.

"Ouchy..." I groaned as I rubbed my injured area.

"Do you want me to melt the floor completely?" Blaze asked.

"No no," I insisted, "We wouldn't want to get in trouble by Mister Pryce. Instead, why don't you just melt it a _tiny_ bit; just so I can't slip and fall?"

"Alright, Reets," Blaze said.

Blaze tightly focused, and began to walk across the Gym on all fours. With each step she took, a little bit of the ice was melted down. I followed behind her until we finally reached Pryce's non-icy Gym platform.

"I see you've managed to make it all the way here," Pryce pointed out, "You're the first challenger today who hasn't come here with broken teeth from slipping and falling."

"Well, I did hurt my butt a little," I thought. "I'm ready to fight, Mister Pryce!"

"Very well then. Dewgong, come on out!"

Gulping a little since Dewgong was part Water-type, I assured myself that Blaze was strong and could handle stuff like this.

"Blaze, use Flame Wheel!" I cried out.

"Dewgong, block it with Aurora Beam!" Pryce commanded.

The rapid burning wheel that was Blaze managed to charge right throw the rainbow colored Aurora Beam. It did manage to strike Dewgong, but Blaze was still hurt from the beam. Despite the damage she had taken, Blaze decided to attack with Lava Plume. However, although it melted the ice floor behind us, it barely even singed Dewgong.

"That is your first lesson!" Pryce exclaimed, "You shouldn't be quick to use a Fire-type against an Ice-type Gym every time! Dewgong, use Rest!"

Dewgong quickly fell into a deep sleep, and any wounds Blaze managed to leave on it vanished without a trace.

"Blaze, weaken it a bit with Swift!" I cried out.

"Dewgong, use Sleep Talk!" Pryce told his Pokémon.

Although still sleeping, Dewgong's random move was Ice Shard. Each shard easily blocked away every star Blaze produced. Seeing that my original plan wasn't going to work, I returned Blaze to her Pokéball.

"Merida, come on out!" I exclaimed, tossing Merida's Pokéball.

I had Merida strike Dewgong with Discharge, and this time, it managed to leave quite a lot of damage. When Dewgong woke up, Pryce simply restored its health by spraying it with a Hyper Potion.

"Oh no..." I thought, "I hope this doesn't keep on for too long..."

"Dewgong, use Aurora Beam!" Pryce cried out.

"Merida, try to counter it with ThunderPunch!" I exclaimed.

"No! You shouldn't try to counter a Special move with a Physical move!" Pryce snapped.

But much to his surprise, Merida's strength gave her the power to punch her way through the beam and strike Dewgong. Pryce stood wide-eyed as Dewgong collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"W-What kind of Ampharos is that?!" Pryce wondered.

"Simple; she's just Merida!" I chirped as I healed Merida's wounds with a Hyper Potion.

"No matter, that's no reason to get cocky!" Pryce warned, "And that's another lesson to you, so pay attention!"

"Yes, 'Master' Pryce," I sighed.

"Seel, you're next!" Pryce called as he tossed Seel's Pokéball.

I had Merida use ThunderPunch again, which left a fair amount of damage. Just as Merida was about to finish Seel off, Pryce had it use Rest, restoring its wounds. Gritting my teeth in slight frustration, I had Merida use Discharge.

"Seel, use Snore!" Pryce commanded.

Seel let out a snore so loud, the force of it actually sent Merida's Discharge back to her. Rubbing her sore head, Merida and I tried to think of something.

"What are we going to do?" Merida asked, "At this rate, I'm going to end up being a Popsicle!"

"Hmm..." I pondered, "Okay! I've thought of two ideas: One, when it wakes up; you paralyze it with Thunder Wave. Two, keep attacking until it's completely worn down!"

"It looks like Seel's beginning to wake up," Merida noticed, "So, I'll try Plan A!"

"Alright, use Thunder Wave!" I cried out.

Luckily for us, the paralyzing attack managed to hit Seel. It tried to attack Merida, but the paralysis had spread quite fast.

"Merida, finish with ThunderPunch!" I exclaimed.

With her fist sparking with electricity, Merida punched Seel far across the room. Returning Seel to its Pokéball, Pryce gave a small, yet still stoic smile.

"You're actually doing quite well, Ritsu," Pryce remarked, "But, that doesn't mean your lesson's over quite yet! Piloswine, you're my last hope!"

"Ground-types are immune to whatever Merida could throw at them," I thought as I returned Merida to her Pokéball. "Lady, come on out!"

"Don't think that a Water-type is going to get off that easily," Pryce remarked, "Piloswine, use Blizzard!"

Piloswine released a mix of harsh wind and snow from its mouth. The Blizzard was strong enough to both blow my hat away, and turn Lady into a fish-sicle.

"My hat!" I shrieked, "L-Lady! Don't worry, I'll save you!"

I quickly thawed Lady out with an Ice Heal, and although she was shivering, she was ready to fight again.

"Y-You're g-going to p-pay for that!" Lady exclaimed, shivering.

"Lady, use Surf!" I cried.

"Piloswine, use Blizzard once more to freeze the wave!" Pryce called out.

As Lady rode on the giant tidal wave she summoned, Piloswine successfully froze it with its Blizzard attack. Suddenly, I got a brilliant (yet crazy) idea.

"Lady, break the ice with Horn Attack!" I exclaimed.

Lady jammed her horn into the bottom of the frozen wave, causing it to shatter into thousands of pieces that were falling at a rapid speed. Each frozen piece left tons of slash marks on Piloswine, making it fall unconscious.

"Piloswine!" Pryce cried out.

"Oh no..." I said horrified, "It's not?!"

"No, thankfully he's still alive," Pryce said with a small smile. "I congratulate you on winning, but you must learn the discipline of a battle as well."

"Does that mean I don't get my badge?" I asked.

"Of course not!" Pryce responded, "You've rightfully earned it."

My face stretched into a wide grin as I had claimed my seventh League Badge. But, my grin faded as I realized my hat was still gone.

"Excuse me," a Skier asked as she held my lost hat, "Is this yours?"

"Yes! Thank you so much!" I thanked.

However, the minute I left the Gym, I got a call from Professor Elm.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Ritsu! It's awful!" Elm shrieked.

"What is it this time, Professor? Did one of your starters get stolen again?"

"Even worse! I just got word that Team Rocket has invaded the Goldenrod Radio Tower!"

"What?!" I exclaimed, "It can't be! I took them down here in Mahogany Town!"

"Well, apparently they're still at their shenanigans!" Elm cried, "You've got to do something!"

Professor Elm quickly hung up the phone. I rushed into the Pokémon Center to make a few party adjustments (like boxing the exhausted Lady for Clarence until I came back).

"Louie, take us to Goldenrod!" I told my Noctowl.

Louie took a firm grip on my overall straps and soared across part of the Johto region until we had arrived in front of the Goldenrod Pokémon Center.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** None.

**Deaths:** None.

**Boxed/Unboxed:** Lady the Goldeen (Boxed), Clarence the Tentacruel (Unboxed)

* * *

**Author's Note:** I dunno, if you ask me, Pryce sounds like a pretty _cool_ guy *snicker*! A-Anyways, stay tuned for Chapter 21!


	21. Invasion of Radio Tower! (Part 1)

**Author's Note:** Here's the second (and possibly last depending on what happens) spontaneous update for today! Nothing really happens, but there is a chance of shipping in this chapter! So, please enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon, but I do own Ritsu and Nico.

* * *

I noticed that there were many Rocket Grunts guarding a few areas, so I had to be careful. Before I infiltrated the Radio Tower, I decided to check and see if any of the citizens were harmed. My first stop was the Name Rating Tent. However, when I got close to the tent, I heard voices coming from the inside.

"Young man," the Name Rater said, "What ails you?"

"If I tell you," the other voice (who turned out to be Nico when I secretly peeked in) replied, "Do you promise to keep it an absolute secret?"

"You have my word," the Name Rater promised.

"Well..." Nico began with a light blush on his face, "There's this girl that I've met at the beginning of last month."

"Ah, a girl. Is there something special about this girl that drove you to come see me?"

"If there wasn't anything special about this girl, I wouldn't be coming to see you now would I?" Nico asked in a rude tone. "Anyways, whenever I see her, I feel really... weird."

"I see. Now, what do you mean by 'weird'?"

"I don't know! Like, my face gets red and hot, my palms start sweating, and my heart feels like its going to burst out of my chest."

"Hmm..." the Name Rater pondered, "One more question: what features of this girl make you feel this way the most?"

"Mmm, I dunno?!" Nico stuttered as he blushed even harder, "That annoying, yet really adorable little smile she has, or maybe her pretty caramel eyes, or heck, even the way she wears her hair under that hat of hers!"

"Ah yes, I know your problem now!" the Name Rater told him.

"Really?! Then spill it old man, I haven't got all day!" Nico snapped.

"First off, there's no need to be rude. Second, you have no problem at all; you've simply fallen in love, or as they used to say in my time, twitterpated."

"That's what my dumb Feraligatr said..." Nico muttered, "What do you want me to do about it? She doesn't seem to love me back."

"And who would?" I thought from outside of the tent, "Boy, do I feel bad for the poor girl you're after..."

"Simple," the Name Rater said, "If you want her to return your love, then you must court her with a little more kindness."

"Court her?" Nico asked.

"Or, as you children would put it nowadays, you need to stop being a total asshat."

"Who are you calli—erm, I mean, what? You expect me to be _nice_?! Sorry, old coot, but I don't do nice!"

"If you can't show kindness, then she'll never love you back. That's all I can say to a child as rotten as you. That'll be 100 Pokédollars, by the way."

Once Nico angrily paid the money and began to storm out of the tent, I quickly ran somewhere else so he wouldn't find out that I was listening in on his conversation with the Name Rater. As soon as the coast was clear, I began to process the odd thought of Nico actually falling in love with someone.

"Hee hee," I giggled, "Can you believe it, Merida? Nico actually having feelings for some poor unfortunate girl! I wonder who it is, though..."

"I can think of one likely girl," Merida said as she gestured towards me.

"Merida..." I sighed, "We've been over this; Nico can't stand me!"

"Whatever floats your boat, Ritsu..." Merida said, "But, if you do see him again, just look for the signs."

"Signs?" I asked, "Signs of what?"

"Of human love, of course. If I'm right and he does like you, he may start to blush like crazy. Or maybe, he might even try to hold your hand or something, attempt to get a glimpse of your eyes, or if you were in danger, he could try to protect you."

"That doesn't sound like Nico at all. If he were near me, he'd probably just call me names, insult both mine and his Pokémon, and just hit or shove me for no reason!"

"I heard somewhere that boys do that because they're too proud or uncomfortable to show their affections towards girls..."

"Merida, please stop. We have a Rocket mission to sabotage, remember?"

"I know, I know. Oh! And he might try to give you a gift or even ki—"

"Enough, Merida!" I scolded.

After inspecting a few more areas of the city, I decided to check over at the Flower Shop. But, I couldn't check the inside since the door was being blocked by a Rocket Grunt. However, I saw Nico looking back as he walked into the Flower Shop. The Rocket Grunt recognized him and quickly stepped aside. A few minutes later, Nico walked out with a bouquet of red and white camellias.

"See?" Merida chirped, "He's most likely planning on giving those flowers to you. And as a bonus, Erin told me that red camellias mean 'in love' and yellow ones mean 'longing'~."

Ignoring Merida, I hurried over to the Radio Tower. I noticed a sign that said "Rockets only, peasants better scram!". Sighing, I saw a female Rocket Grunt pass by, so I quickly grabbed her and had Merida paralyze her as I stole her uniform.

"H-Hey!" she stuttered, "Give back my clothes!"

"Sorry, but I need these for a bit!" I told her as I ran back to the Radio Tower's entrance.

"Ah, you must be that new girl!" the Grunt at the door said, winking, "Well, come on in, cutie pie!"

Lightly giggling at the last two words, I entered the building with confidence that my plan couldn't possibly go wrong. But, just as the Rocket Grunt guarding the steps was about to kindly let me go upstairs, Nico came bursting into the room.

"Young master!" the Rocket Grunt exclaimed.

"Don't even think about calling me that!" Nico hissed, "I don't want anything to do with you Rockets!"

While the Rocket Grunt was distracted, Merida and I tried to hurry up the stairs. But, our stealth went up in smoke as Nico seemed to recognize me.

"R-Ritsu?!" Nico gasped, "No... no! I'm not going to lose you of all people to Team Rocket!"

"Nico, what are you doing?!" I shrieked as he grabbed "my" Team Rocket shirt.

Nico quickly ripped the shirt from off of my body, revealing my bra. Quickly covering my almost-bare chest, I shot a very angry look at Nico (who had a bit of blood spurting from his nose for some reason).

"Young master!" the Rocket Grunt snapped, "We don't take kindly to perverts! And as for you, Little Miss Impostor, you're in big trouble!"

The Rocket Grunt sent out his Raticate to fight, but Merida quickly took it down with a simple Discharge attack followed by a ThunderPunch.

"Gah, here to spoil our plans again, eh?!" the Rocket Grunt exclaimed before he ran up the stairs, "I must go inform the others posthaste!"

As soon as the Grunt was gone, I angrily told Nico to turn around as I put on my normal clothes. Once they were on, however, my angry look didn't leave my face.

"Nico, what the heck was that about?!" I snapped, "You ruined my plan!"

"Well, excuse me for not being psychic!" Nico hissed back, "How was I supposed to know you were _faking_ being a Rocket Grunt?"

"By minding your own business!"

"Pffft, whatever. You're plan was stupid anyways! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go kick that Champion guy Lance's ass in a battle!"

"Oh no you don't!" I yelled as I gripped his jacket collar, "You foiled my disguise _and_ publicly stripped me; now you're going to help me bring Team Rocket down!"

"And why the heck should I do that?!" Nico objected.

"Because, I was checking for danger all around the city, and Lance isn't even here!"

"...Fine," Nico pouted as he began to blush again, "I guess I could follow you around a bit..."

"Then we have a deal!" I chirped.

As I let go of his jacket collar , Nico and I hurried up the stairs to save the Radio Tower from Team Rocket's nefarious plans.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained: **None.

**Deaths:** None.

**Boxed/Unboxed: **None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I really don't have much to say afterwards, but I'll add that I'm watching episodes of Hey Arnold while I'm writing the next update (not sure if it will effect the plot though...)! So, stay tuned for Chapter 22!


	22. Invasion of Radio Tower! (Part 2)

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! Here's another update for you! And yes, there is another (yet very tiny) POV change in this chapter, but it's really not much. And another thing, since I don't speak and/or take Spanish as a high school course, I used the Google Translate for one of the lines! (To Briah: Let's test how good your Spanish still is with the line~) So, enjoy the chapter while I work on the next one!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon, but I do own Ritsu and Nico.

* * *

As we searched the floor for any hidden Rocket Grunts, I noticed Nico was giving me a dreamy look with a small smile on his face.

"Are you alright, Nico?" I asked, "You seem to be looking at me in a strange way."

"Hmm? Oh! I-I mean, what's it to you, girly?" Nico said harshly, "Let's just stop the damn Rocket Stooges so I can get away from you!"

"Sounds good to me..." I sighed.

"Come on, Nico," Nico told himself mentally, "You're finally with Ritsu, so you've gotta try to be nice to her like that old coot said, and more importantly, _don't_ fuck this up!"

I looked behind the vending machines and even under the tables to find the criminals, but I had no luck. However, as Nico was looking in another area of the floor, I noticed something poking out from inside his bag.

"H-Hey!" Nico sputtered as I took it out, "Stay out of my bag, will ya?!"

"It's a bouquet of flowers," I pointed out, "And look; here's a tag attached to it."

"What does it say?" Merida asked as we completely ignored Nico's protests.

"It says 'To Ritsu: Well... here you go, dumbass. From, Nico.'. That's sweet of you, Nico; they're lovely."

"Yeah yeah yeah," Nico grumbled as he blushed, "Just don't think I'm going soft on you because of it! Once I beat Lance, you're next in line for defeat!"

Suddenly, we were ambushed by two Rocket Grunts. Nico and I stood back to back as the Rocket Grunts reached for their Pokéballs.

"Y-Young Master Nico!" one of them exclaimed, "What are you doing with this girl? She's the one who foiled our plans back in Azalea and Mahogany Town!"

"Pffft, as if your plans would actually go right," Nico scoffed, "You lot are too weak to do anything right on your own!"

"Wow, I never knew you were so against your own kind, Nico," I added, "After all, you _are_ their supposed heir."

"I am **NOT** their heir!" Nico hissed, "I'd rather die than be the heir of a team who's taking orders from the insufferable bastard I used to call my father!"

"Hmph, that can be arranged," the other Grunt said, "Arbok, take them both down!"

"Rattata army!" the first Grunt exclaimed as he tossed five Pokéballs, "Help her out!"

I sent out Clarence to take down the five Rattata with his many tentacles, while Nico sent out his Sneasel to take down Arbok. The Rattata proved to be a little more difficult than expected since all five of them started to bite Clarence in different areas.

"I. AM. NOT. A. SNACK!" Clarence shouted as he threw all the Rattata away.

"Good job, Clarence!" I exclaimed, "Now, finish them with Bubblebeam!"

Clarence shot hundreds of lethal bubbles at each Rattata, causing them to faint on the spot. He then began to wince in pain from being bitten, so I treated his wounds with a Super Potion.

"You did good, Clarence!" I congratulated as I hugged his large nose.

Meanwhile, Sneasel was getting the beat-down of his life as Arbok showed no mercy in attacking it.

"Gah," Sneasel cringed, "'Ey Nico, swap me out with someone else, ese. I ain't doin' so well out here."

"That's your own fault!" Nico snapped, "Now keep fighting or you'll always be worthless!"

"Yes, boss," Sneasel sighed.

"Use Icy Wind!" Nico commanded.

Sneasel let loose a powerful gust of freezing wind, strong enough to make the Arbok shiver violently.

"Now, finish with Fury Swipes!" Nico exclaimed.

Once Sneasel finished swiping its sharp claws into Arbok's body, his opponent fell to the ground with a bang. As soon as the Rocket Grunts ran off somewhere, Sneasel keeled over from his injuries.

"Get up, you worthless rat!" Nico hissed.

"Ah..." Sneasel groaned in pain, "S-Sorry, brudda; I've got mad injuries."

"I don't give a crap! If you don't get up, you're outta here!"

"Prefiero volver a mi antiguo entrenador de todos modos..." Sneasel muttered.

Outraged at Nico's perpetual abuse, I kindly shared a Super Potion with Sneasel. As I sprayed the medicine on each wound, he practically melted at the relief of pain.

"Thanks, chica," Sneasel thanked.

"You're very welcome, little guy," I replied cheerfully.

"Hey! You baby your own Pokémon, and I'll actually make mine less weak!" Nico yelled.

"I'm not _babying_ my Pokémon," I retorted, "I'm simply making them stronger with love! Something you wouldn't even think to do!"

"Like I said, Ritsu, love towards a Pokémon is a waste of time!" Nico objected, "And I'd expect no less from a sappy girl like you!"

"...Fine," I said sternly, "Then you must think a 'sap' like me is a waste of time too. My Pokémon and I can take down Team Rocket without you! Come on, Clarence, let's go."

* * *

"Gah! Why the hell did I just say that to her?!" Nico groaned as he slapped his forehead in frustration, "I must have sounded like a total asshole!"

"As if you weren't one to begin with, ese..." Sneasel muttered.

"You wanna repeat that?!"

"N-No, man! I'm just sayin' that if you got the hots for that girl, then you gotta show her that you mean it!"

"I know! But even when I attempt it, she's still disgusted for some reason!"

"Maybe because you treat us like dirt..."

"Bullshit!" Nico objected as he returned Sneasel to his Pokéball, "There's nothing wrong with my training methods, you guys are just weak!"

* * *

As I switched Clarence out for Merida again, I still felt disgusted about Nico's negative attitude towards his own Pokémon, and the thought that Merida believed that he had some sort of crush on me made me even more disgusted.

"Ritsu," Merida said, "I believe you when you say Nico's a complete jerkass, but something in me is still telling me he's got it bad for you!"

"Right, because nothing says 'I love you' like calling someone a sap and a waste of time," I retorted. "Merida, even if he did have a crush on me, I just don't think I'd be able to like him back. I mean, you've see the way he treats his Pokémon, right?"

"I'm not saying you have to like him back; I'm just saying that he feels differently about you than he lets on."

"Whatever you say, Merida..."

I ran up the stairs to find a guy being gagged up with duct tape and tied by two Rocket Grunts and a Rocket Scientist.

"It's that brat who keeps screwing us over!" one of the Grunts exclaimed.

"Let's get her!" the Scientist shouted.

The two Rocket Grunts sent out their Grimer and Koffing, while the Scientist typically sent out his three Magnemites. Merida managed to take Koffing down with a ThunderPunch, but was completely immobilized by Grimer's Sludge attack.

"Magnemite, attack with SonicBoom!" the Scientist cried out.

Not wanting Merida to get seriously hurt (or even killed), I sent out Rose and Blaze to help her. Blaze basically melted the Magnemite when I told her to use Ember.

"Alright!" Rose cheered, "Dr. B is in the house!"

"Stop that," Blaze groaned.

"Rose, take out the Grimer with Extrasensory!" I told her.

"Got it, boss!" Rose confirmed.

Rose's psychic power twisted Grimer into several different shapes until it was totally worn down. Now that Merida was free, she short circuited the last two Magnemites with a few Discharge attacks.

"Thanks, girls," Merida said, "I thought I was a goner!"

"No need to thank us," Blaze told her.

"Yeah, we're always looking out for our teammate!" Rose added.

After untying the hostage guy, I continued to the fourth floor. After taking out a few Rocket Grunts, I walked into a room to find one more female Grunt staring out of the window.

"Oh, Proton," she sighed with a lovestruck look, "The longer I gaze at thyself, the stronger my love for you grows! If only you knew of how much my heart yearns for thee; if only you would share this desire with me, then you would finally realize that I adore you to no end! Why is it that this love of mine is only consummate in my dreams, nay, in my heart? Will I forever be bound by the curse of this unrequited love I bear for you? Oh, my dearest Proton, how I love—hey!"

Her romantic profession of love was cut short the minute she noticed I had walked into the room. The look on her face told me that she was worried that I might have heard her.

"An intruder! What are you doing here?!" the Rocket Grunt interrogated, "...A-And, how much did you hear?"

"All of it," I said, "Now that I know that no good Proton has come back, I'm going to avenge my Bellsprout!"

"Not on my watch!" the Rocket Grunt shrieked, "I shall be my love's bravest knight and protect him from the likes of you! Ekans sisters, go!"

I sent out Erin to deal with this little situation. Both Ekans used Acid, but Erin only wiped it off of her face bravely with a few minor burns.

"Dearest sister!" I heard one Ekans exclaimed, "This Gloom just endured out attack like it was nothing!"

"No need to fret, little sister," the other said, "We'll just strangle it until it's nothing!"

The Ekans sisters tried to lung out at Erin, who just grabbed them by the tail with a calm smile on her face. She then proceeded to tied them both together and toss them through the glass, utterly startling Proton.

"What the hell?!" Proton squeaked.

"O-Oh!" the Rocket Grunt exclaimed, blushing, "S-Sorry sir! I was just trying to protect you from this ruffian girl!"

"Well, this little 'ruffian' girl has a little bone to pick with you, sir!" I shouted at Proton as I climbed down through the glass.

"Hmph, if it isn't the runt who foiled our little Slowpoke Tail sales!" Proton snapped, "Lemme guess, you're here to avenge your stupid Bellsprout, aren't you?"

"Don't _ever_ take Lamar's memory in vain!" I hissed, "I'm going to teach you a lesson once and for all!"

Proton sent out his Golbat, so I sent Merida out to battle. Golbat attacked first by using Wing Attack that damaged Merida slightly. Merida slowed Golbat down by latching sticky Cotton Spores onto it.

"Merida, finish with Discharge!" I commanded.

Merida released a powerful electric force that instantly knocked the Golbat out. Frustrated, Proton sent out his final Pokémon: Weezing.

"Merida, return!" I said as Merida went back to her Pokéball in a red beam, "Louie, come on out!"

"Weezing, use Sludge!" Proton ordered.

"Louie, block with Reflect!" I cried out.

Louie conjured a magic screen just in time for the Sludge to hit it. I had Louie counterattack with his new Confusion attack, and Weezing instantly fainted.

"Hmm, not bad at all," Proton remarked as he winked at me. "You may have defeated me, cutie, but can you defeat my comrades?"

Once I healed my team with a few Hyper Potions, I hurried up to the next floor with an intense determination of completing my mission.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** None.

**Deaths:** None.

**Boxed/Unboxed:** None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yeah, I lied. Turns out watching Hey Arnold did influence one of the lines a teeny bit... But, I digress; so stay tuned for Chapter 23 (which I'm working on right now)!


	23. Invasion of Radio Tower! (Conclusion)

**Author's Note:** Alright, I've finally updated! Yeah, sorry that this wasn't up as soon as I implied. I had a concert on Tuesday and I was busy working on a Gijinka set (now finished and posted on my Tumblr) for some of the story's Pokémon characters! But, here's the (lengthy) conclusion to the Radio Tower Invasion arc like I promised!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon, but I do own Ritsu and Nico.

* * *

When I entered a room on the fifth floor, I saw who looked like the Radio Director making strange announcements over a microphone.

"Attention, Johto!" the "Director" announced, "This is the Radio Tower Director saying that you should all worship Team Rocket!"

"Team Rocket?!" I thought, "Something's not right with the Director..."

"And for all of you young people who don't, you are all a bunch of morons!"

"Excuse me!" I objected, outraged, "You're not allowed to say 'moron' on the radio! You can only say that word on TV!"

"Bah, what's it to you—ah! Not you again!"

"Wait, you're not the Director!" I realized as I yanked off his hat, "You're that elderly Rocket Executive!"

"I'm not elderly!" Petrel retorted as he took off the coat, "I only appear elderly to a young-in like you! And, I was impersonating the Director so I could persuade the people of Johto into worshiping us!"

"Ugh, how many times do I have to teach you this lesson, old man?" I groaned as I reached for my Pokéballs.

"I'm not old!" Petrel snapped, "Koffing army, let's blow this little whippersnapper away, shall we?"

I soon found myself surrounded by five Koffing. They suddenly began to glow white, so I shrieked in fear as I covered my head. However, when the explosion went off, I discovered that I wasn't hurt at all. I looked up to see that Clarence had come out of his Pokéball and shielded me with Barrier.

"Clarence!" I exclaimed, "You saved me!"

"Of course," Clarence told me, "Anything for my trainer. Besides, it's repaying you for being nice enough to treat my wounds earlier."

"Confound it!" Petrel snapped, "I guess I'll get rid of you the old fashioned way! Weezing, come out and use Sludge!"

Clarence nearly gagged as he found himself covered in an icky toxic ooze. But, he quickly wiped it off with one of his tentacles and countered with Water Pulse.

"Weezing, use SmokeScreen!" Petrel cried out.

"Clarence, defend with Barrier!" I commanded.

When Weezing released a dark smoke from its mouths, the smoke traveled around Clarence's magic shield. Somehow grinning with delight, Clarence finished off the Poison Gas Pokémon with Bubblebeam.

"Eh... since you managed to beat me, I'm going to be generous and give you the Basement Key for freeing the Director," Petrel said as he gave me the key. "And in case you didn't know, we've stashed him underneath the Goldenrod Tunnel Warehouse!"

"T-Thank you?" I said, unsure.

I hurried downstairs and out of the Tower to go find the Director. As I walked down into one of the Goldenrod Tunnels, I noticed another Kimono Girl from Ecruteak City.

"Ah! It is you, Ritsu," the Kimono Girl yelped in surprise.

"Are you the Kimono Girl I rescued back at the Dance Theater?" I asked.

"No, that was my sister, Miki. My name is Kuni."

"It's very nice to meet you, Kuni," I greeted.

"What brings you to the tunnels, Ritsu? Are you stopping Team Rocket?"

"Yes. I've already taken down two of their Executives, and now I'm here to rescue the Radio Director."

"Impressive. Maybe you'll be able to reawaken Lugi—er, I mean, I wish you good luck on your mission!"

As Kuni walked away, I began to wonder about what she was about to say. But, I quickly shrugged it off and unlocked the Basement door. I hurried down the steps, and found a bunch of Rocket Grunts in each corner of the room. Not wanting to provoke any of them, I called Erin out to spread her Sleep Powder throughout the entire room while I blocked my nose. As the Sleep Powder faded, every Grunt in the Basement was fast asleep.

"Now's our chance!" I whispered to Erin.

"Not so fast, Ritsu!" a familiar voice shouted.

"Oh no, not Nico..." Erin and I groaned.

"Look, before you say anything," Nico said, "About earlier in the Radio Tower... I-I just wanted to say I'm sss-sor..."

"You're what, Nico?" I asked.

"I'm trying to say I'm sssoh-vrehh—ACK!"

"I don't know what you're trying to say to me, Nico," I told him, "If you're just here to insult me again, then I would greatly appreciate it if you would please leave me alone."

"Come on, Nico," Nico thought, "Spit it out already! I'm not trying to insult you this time, I'm trying to say that I'm sssooorrryyy..."

"You're sorry?" I asked.

"...Yes, Ritsu," Nico sighed as he turned a light shade of red, "I'm... I'm sorry that I called you a waste of time. To be honest, you're actually an, erm... okay person."

"Apology accepted, Nico," I said as I gave him a light hug, "Even though I still think you're a big fat jerk..." I said that last part softly under my breath.

"Umm, uh—" Nico stammered as his blush got more intense, "T-That doesn't mean I'm not going to defeat you in a battle! I mostly followed you here so you'd finally lose against me!"

"Sounds good to me!" I exclaimed as I called Louie out of his Pokéball.

"Golbat, come out!" Nico shouted.

"Louie, use Confusion!" I cried.

The psychic energy coming from Louie managed to critically damage the type disadvantaged Golbat. It even struggled to get up, but as usual, Nico didn't care at all.

"Don't just sit there!" Nico yelled, "Use Confuse Ray!"

Golbat released a few yellow orbs that kept swirling around Louie until he got extremely dizzy. I told Louie to focus and try to use Take Down, but he ended up crashing himself into the floor; missing Golbat entirely.

"Maybe you should take a rest to get your mind cleared," I suggested as I returned Louie to his Pokéball. "Rose, take his place!"

"Golbat, attack with Bite!" Nico commanded.

Golbat summoned the strength it had left and sunk its teeth into Rose's body. Wailing in pain, Rose tossed her opponent off of her and finished it off with Sucker Punch (via Metronome). Irritated, Nico sent out Feraligatr to battle once I sent out Blaze.

"I see you're fully evolved, lassie," Feraligatr remarked.

"I see you're still a loser," Blaze said smugly.

"Feraligatr, use Water Gun!" Nico exclaimed.

This time, however, Blaze learned from past mistakes and easily dodged the attack. I had her weaken Feraligatr a bit with Lava Plume, then she finished him off with Swift. Nico's next Pokémon was his Sneasel, so I kept Blaze out to battle.

"Sneasel, use Fury Swipes!" Nico ordered.

"Imma cut you, man!" Sneasel taunted.

As Sneasel kept slashing his sharp claws in Blaze's face, she got fed up and held him by the red feather thing on its head.

"First off, I'm a girl," Blaze told him, "Second, don't mess with Fire-types."

Blaze instantly defeated Sneasel with a simple Ember attack. Once Sneasel was returned to his Pokéball, Nico simply sighed and sent out his last two Pokémon: Haunter and Magnemite. I was about to call Rose out, but then I remembered the incident with Eusine back in Cianwood. Shuddering, I instead called out Erin and Clarence to battle.

"Erin, use Mega Drain on Magnemite, and Clarence, you use Bubblebeam!" I commanded.

Erin absorbed a little bit of energy from Magnemite into her small rafflesia, while Clarence released a ton of damaging bubbles at Haunter.

"Alright, guys!" I chirped, "Both of you finish with Acid!"

Erin and Clarence simultaneously released a burning, yet toxic liquid onto their opponents, causing them both to faint.

"...You can't be real," Nico said in disbelief. "I just don't get it... no matter how many strong Pokémon I gather, they just can't win; whether it's against you or anyone else! Was... was what you and that Lance jerk said true? Do I really just need to love and trust my Pokémon? Erm, no matter; I'm not gonna stop my journey just because of this minor fluke!"

"He'll get it someday..." I thought as Nico left.

Suddenly, my feet were surrounded by bright red lasers. Not wanting to risk setting off an alarm that would wake up the heavily-sleeping Grunts, I sent Louie out to fly me over to a safe floor. However, while I was in the air, I caught a good glimpse of a series of walls guarding the door to some secret room. Louie placed me down in front of the walls' main switch.

"To shut off the walls, repeat each sound combination," the switch said, "If you can guess the correct rhythm of the sound, then the walls will be deactivated."

I remembered playing a similar sound memory game like this when I was about eight years old. Once one sound was played, I pressed the exact key it came from. Then, the sound repeated with another one, so I pressed the two keys. Halfway into the puzzle, I recognized the tune as a song called "Crazy Frog", so I instinctively played the keys of the song. As soon as the song was finished, all of the walls in the room had lowered into the ground.

"Hey look!" I exclaimed as I came across the secret door, "We found it!"

I entered the room to find the real Director tied up and wearing nothing except a white tank top and his blue and white striped boxers.

"Mr. Director!" I shrieked, "Are you alright?!"

"Yes, I am," the Director responded, "A little on the partially naked side, but I'm fine. Listen, you must defeat Team Rocket once and for all! So, I'm giving you this Card Key in order to get up to the other area of the fifth floor!"

"Thanks!" I said, "Do you still want to get out of here?"

"Silly girl! Of course I want to get out of here!" the Director shouted.

Sneaking past the Rocket Grunts, we took the nearby elevator up to the Goldenrod Department Store. However, since the Director was too shy to go out in his underwear, I left him alone for a minute to go get him something to cover him. I came back with the only thing I could find: A cute little Minccino costume.

"Oh no!" the Director screeched, "There is no way I'm wearing that ridiculous-looking thing!"

"Sorry, Mr. Director," I apologized, "But it was the only thing available. Besides, would you rather go naked?"

"...No," the Director pouted as he put on the Minccino costume, head and all. "Let's go already before someone sees."

"But you look so cute!" I squealed.

"I said let's go, Miss Ritsu."

Once we reached the lobby of the Radio Tower, I told the Director to stay in the lobby until Team Rocket was dealt with. I scurried all the way up to the off-limits area of the fifth floor, and unlocked the barricade with the Card Key. When I went into the elevator, I found Executive Ariana apparently waiting for me.

"Well well well," Ariana taunted, "It looks like you've finally come alone, Ritsu,"

"I'm not alone, Ariana!" I retorted, "I've got my Pokémon by my side!"

"Pffft, what good can _your_ Pokémon do?" Ariana scoffed, "They might as well be tossed aside since they're so useless!"

"Yeah, you're definitely Nico's aunt..." I thought.

As the elevator began to move towards the Observatory, Ariana sent out her Arbok to attempt to take me down. Just as Arbok lunged out at me, I sent out Louie to counter with Confusion. The force of the psychic energy was enough to make Arbok terribly confused.

"Arbok, use Wrap!" Ariana commanded.

However, due to its confusion, Arbok mistook its own tail for Louie somehow, and wrapped itself into a knot again. Louie was about to attack Arbok one last time, but it passed out from its circulation being cut off before he could even lay a talon on it.

"Hmph," Ariana pouted as she returned Arbok to its Pokéball, "I'm not going to bother using my Vileplume since you'll just use that dumb Typhlosion of yours to burn it to a crisp..."

Then, we both noticed the elevator had come to a stop. As I healed Louie's wounds, Ariana began to chuckly lightly in a sly way.

"You know," Ariana remarked, "I'm actually quite impressed by your strength. It's just too bad that you're not using it right! But, I digress; go on and face our head Executive, my possible future niece-in-law~."

Cringing a little bit at the last part Ariana said, I watched the elevator close from the outside as I walked over to the radio observation deck where I saw the last Rocket Executive staring out of the large viewing glass.

"Wow, you actually managed to get this far," the man said, "I'm actually quite impressed."

"Now that I've defeated your comrades, what were you people plotting to do?" I asked.

"I suppose you deserve to know since you've already beaten Proton, Ariana, and Petrel. We were trying to conquer the Radio Tower in order to announce Team Rocket's return. And once we did, Giovanni would finally come out of hiding, and no longer would any of us have to hide in the shadows! But, since you've begun to take us down, our plans have been ruined! And for that, I, Exectutive Archer, must dispose of you!"

Archer sent out his Houndour, so I sent out Clarence to douse its lethal flames. Houndour attacked first with Crunch, causing Clarence to quickly throw it off in pain.

"Clarence, use Toxic Spikes!" I exclaimed.

Houndour scurried its feet as it kept walking all over the poisonous spikes scattered all across the floor. After a while though, it eventually fainted from severe poison.

"Not bad, child," Archer remarked, "But I'm not done yet! Koffing, come out and use Sludge!"

Once it was released from its Pokéball, Koffing upchucked a toxic and slimy substance from its mouth. Luckily, the attack was blocked off by Clarence using Barrier.

"Now Clarence! Use Water Pulse!" I commanded.

Clarence released a fatal ring of mystic aquatic energy, instantly knocking out Koffing.

"Give up this plan, Archer!" I shouted.

"Never! Team Rocket _will_ rise again! Houndoom, take her out!" Archer bellowed.

Houndoom used a Smog attack to briefly throw Clarence off guard. Panicking, I told Clarence to defend with Barrier, but Houndoom managed to smash the magic shield with Faint Attack, which drove several pieces of magic glass into Clarence's gelatinous skin.

"I've got you now..." Archer said darkly, "Houndoom, finish with Bite!"

"Clarence, use Bubblebeam!" I exclaimed in a panicky tone.

Although critically weakened by Houndoom's previous attacks, Clarence shot numerous deadly bubbles at Houndoom. As Houndoom was getting damaged by the bubbles, it managed to charge through it and inflict a deadly bite wound upon Clarence's head.

"Clarence!" I cried as I rushed to his side.

"D-Don't worry, Ritsu," Clarence assured weakly, "I'm fine..."

Houndoom suddenly fell unconscious from the power and type of the Bubblebeam attack. Shocked, Archer returned Houndoom to its Pokéball.

"How can this be?!" Archer exclaimed, "We, Team Rocket, lost to a mere child! ...No matter; as Giovanni has done before, from this moment forth, Team Rocket is now disbanded. Farewell, Ritsu!"

Archer then disappeared in a puff of smoke. I was about to wonder with Clarence on how he did that, but I was shocked to see Clarence was unconscious with several cuts and bruises, and a bloody bite mark.

"Clarence?!" I shrieked, "Clarence! Please wake up, my friend!"

When I checked for a pulse and listened to see if my Tentacruel was breathing, my eyes went wide with shock and sadness as I found nothing. I began to break down in tears as I hugged Clarence's body, and I heard the Radio Director come in with his regular clothes on.

"Ritsu, what's the matter?" the Director asked.

"My Tentacruel... is dead," I sniffed.

"What?! That's horrible!" the Director exclaimed, "Is there anything I can do? Like, help lay him to rest?"

"I... guess you could help me do that," I sighed.

"This would be my way of repaying you for saving the Radio Tower!" the Director added.

Once we got to Route 34, the Director helped me bury Clarence next to Yui and Ellen. I wrote on his tombstone "Here lies Clarence; a heroic Tentacruel through and through.". Before I left, the Director gave me some sort of beautiful silver feather.

"That's called a Silver Wing," the Director. "I found it somewhere near the Whirl Islands."

"Its so pretty," I said in awe, "Does it do anything special?"

"Ah, it does. Legend tells that when combined with an item called the Tidal Bell, the Divine Guardian of the Sea can be summoned!"

"The Divine Guardian of the Sea?" I asked.

"Lugia of course!" the Director told me. "But alas, it's only a legend..."

After the Director walked back to the now Rocket-free Radio Tower, my mind stayed put on the thought of actually seeing Lugia while Louie flew me all the way back to Mahogany Town.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** None.

**Deaths:** Clarence the Tentacruel, Lvl. 25-31

**Boxed/Unboxed:** None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I guess I'll start the next chapter while I'm at it... So, stay tuned for Chapter 24 (whenever it gets uploaded...)!


	24. Journey to the End of the Ice Path!

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the slow update! I got a nasty case of Writer's Block and this chapter took me quite a while to finish! But, here's Chapter 24 for you!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon; just Ritsu and Nico.

* * *

When I arrived in Mahogany Town, it was nicely decorated with prize party balls, tables of fresh food and h'or deurves, and a large banner that said "Thank You, Heroine Ritsu!". I was then surrounded by a large group of people erupting into excited cheers.

"Hooray for the heroine!" the crowd cheered as they picked me up and bounced me up and down.

"Wait wait!" I insisted as I was lowered, "'Heroine'? What for?"

"You've saved us from Team Rocket!" a little girl told me.

"When those Rocket hoodlums invaded our town, they drove us into total bankruptcy with that greedy gate!" another citizen added. "Not only that, but the Magikarp at the Lake of Rage were suffering from those awful radio noises!"

"And because of your bravery," another citizen said, "We've decided to use some of our newly-recovered money to throw you a 'Thank You' party!"

"That's all very sweet of you," I insisted in my usual gentle tone, "But, I must go get my final Gym Badge in Blackthorn City."

However, once I saw the disappointed looks on everyone's faces, I decided to give in and enjoy the party. After hours of celebration, dancing, and fun, nighttime had fallen. I was overcome with a strong sense of fatigue from all the partying, so the people of Mahogany Town let me spend the night at the Mahogany Pokémon Center.

Once I felt totally refreshed the next morning (albeit still a little full from all the food I had eaten last night), I quickly headed east to Route 44. I traversed in the same direction until I came across a cave known as the Ice Path. The inside of the cave was actually more frigid than Pryce's Gym could ever live up to. And to make matters worse, the floor in front of me was covered in slippery ice.

"Don't worry, Ritsu," Blaze assured, "I'll keep you warm the rest of the way."

"Thank you, Blaze," I said back to her, "That's very thoughtful of you."

With Blaze's intense body heat keeping me warm, I took the first step onto the icy platform. However, despite Blaze's fire power, I still managed to slip backwards (luckily, Blaze caught me in time).

"Try not to fall over too bad, Reets," Blaze said, "I'm not going into the last Gym with a trainer in a full body cast."

"It's not my fault the ice is so slippery!" I objected. "Hey, what if I... ride on your back through the cave?"

"No way in hell!" Blaze snapped, "I'm not a mode of transportation!"

"Oh, pwetty pwease?" I begged in a cute voice.

"...Fine, climb on," Blaze said as she got down on all fours, "And don't think I'm a sucker for the whole cutesy face thing; I'm only doing it because you're my trainer and friend!"

Once I was on my Typhlosion's back, we traversed further through the icy cave. The ice below us melted with each step Blaze took, preventing anymore slipping and falling. When we reached some solid non-icy ground, I got off of Blaze and began to climb down the ladder. Unfortunately for me though, the ladder was very slippery.

"Waaaaaahhhh!" I screamed as I tumbled down the hole and landed flat on the ground. "Owww, I really need to stop falling."

"Mrphm, mrph-mrphufuh!" I heard from below me.

I quickly stood up to see that I had landed on a poor little Swinub. Feeling extremely bad, I knelt down to see if I had done any critical damage to it.

"Are you okay, little one?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay..." Swinub winced. "Wow lady, that was some fall! I think I should be the one asking if you're okay!"

"No no, I'm fine!" I insisted, "I was just worried about whether or not I seriously hurt you!"

"Well, thanks for being concerned, but I'm fine too," Swinub answered, "My name's Manny by the way!"

"My name is Ritsu," I introduced. "Manny, would you happen to know a way out of this cave?"

"Sure do! But, it requires moving those really heavy boulders near those holes over there."

I approached one of the boulders and began to push on it with all of my strength. However, the boulder barely moved an inch.

"It's no use," I said, panting, "I'm not strong enough."

"Wait a minute, Ritsu," Blaze suggested, "Don't you have that new Hidden Machine in your bag?"

"That's right!" I exclaimed as I pulled out a move called Strength. "If I teach this to you, then you can push the boulders easier than I could!"

I took out my Move Tutor CD Player and placed the headphones onto Blaze's ears once the Hidden Machine was inside. After about three minutes, Blaze had completely understood how to perform the move.

"Alright, Blaze! Use Strength on that boulder!" I cried out.

With a single forceful punch from Blaze, the boulder went flying across the cave and down one of the holes. Along with Manny's help, every single boulder was down on the floor below.

"Well, I guess the only way down is through those holes!" I declared as I was about to jump down.

"Wait a second, Ritsu," Manny warned, "You wouldn't want to fall on your tushie again!"

Manny then used Ice Shard to form an ice slide that led all the way to the next floor down. Amazed, I slid down while screaming with excitement until I reached the ladder to an even lower floor level. With Manny guiding us, we finally managed to reach the cave's exit. Just as I was about to move towards it, I saw a Kimono Girl crying for help up ahead.

"Oh no!" she cried out, "My sandals are stuck to the ice! Someone please help me!"

"Don't worry, I'll help you!" I cried back, "Blaze, lightly melt the ice around her feet with Ember!"

In less than a couple seconds, the Kimono Girl's feet was no longer bound to the ice. She turned around with a look of happiness to see that I was the one who had helped her.

"Arigato, Ritsu!" she thanked me happily, "I thought I was a goner!"

"It was no trouble!" I insisted, "After all, I couldn't just leave you to freeze in this cave!"

"Ah, and it is your kindness that will get you quite far on your journey!" the Kimono Girl added with a smile, "Well, sayonara!"

Once I finally slid over to the exit, I stopped to notice that Manny was a little hesitant to follow.

"Aren't you coming with us, Manny?" I asked.

"Well... I've actually always wanted to see the outside world before..." Manny told me.

"You mean, you've never left the Ice Path?" I asked.

"Right. All my life, I've been told from my friends and family that the outside world was dangerous and no place for a little Ice-type like me. At first, I believed them completely, but as I got a little bigger, I couldn't help but wonder if they were actually right. I even began to sneak out near the exit to take a look! I've seen such wonderful new things that aren't very common inside of the cave like warm sunlight, fresh green grass, and even new Pokémon! The more I looked at it, the more I've wanted to join the warm outside world!"

"So, why not come with us?" I asked.

"B-Because..." Manny said meekly, "I'm also kind of nervous. I mean, one part of me is saying 'Manny, trust your instincts! The outside world is wonderful!', but the other part keeps heeding the words of my peers about the world outside of the cave being dangerous and scary! I just don't know what to do exactly!"

"Trust me, Manny," I insisted, "I've been through the same thing as you. Before I became a Trainer, my mother didn't want me to start my journey at all because she was afraid I'd go away forever like my dad. Since I was a kid, I've always wanted to become a Trainer and see the world, but I was always torn between my mother's words and my own desires. Eventually, I just trusted my gut and started my journey! Granted, the rest of Johto isn't perfect, but it is worth seeing! So, what do you say, Manny? Do you want to live your dream with us?"

As I reached out a hand towards him, Manny put a small paw into my palm as he chose to come with us. Once I made Manny's capture official, I switched Blaze for Manny as my walking partner as we had emerged out into Blackthorn City.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** Manny the Swinub, Male, Naive nature, Likes to thrash about.

**Deaths:** None.

**Boxed/Unboxed:** None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Just as a warning, Chapter 25 won't be up for a while (I got grounded for some time, and I don't know when my computer banishment will blow over)! I wanted to post this so you guys wouldn't get the wrong idea and think I stopped writing this story! So anyways, stay tuned for Chapter 25 (when it gets done...)!


	25. Fun Times at the Festival of Dragons!

**Author's Note:** ...Oh my god. Look in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Why no! It's a long awaited update! Honestly, this is one of the worst Writer's Block holds I've had so far (I haven't update since _April_)! But, here's the moment you've all been waiting for: Chapter 25 of Tides of the Soul!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokémon, but I do own Ritsu and Nico.

* * *

When I caught the sight of the city, I was truly amazed. Blackthorn City was covered in beautiful Dragon-type Pokémon decorations, people were setting up pretty lanterns everywhere, children were running around in their traditional kimonos, and overall, everything was magnificent.

"Wow! The outside world is so wonderful!" Manny beamed in awe, "Is it always like this?"

"I don't think so," I said, "I think that there's some kind of festival going around."

"Ah yes, there is!" an old woman explained as she walked up to me. "You see young lady; every year, Blackthorn City throws the 'Rising Twin Dragons Festival'."

"The Rising Twin Dragons Festival? What's that?" I asked.

"It's a city-exclusive celebration that commemorates the very famous tale that has been passed down from our city's oldest days."

"May I please hear the story, ma'am?"

"Of course! I'd be happy to tell it to you! Come to my house and I'll also give you a kimono for the festival!"

Once we got to the old lady (who's name was actually Hitomi)'s house, I changed into a beautiful pink kimono with a bright red sash and decorated with dark pink cherry blossom flowers. I then sat down at the kitchen table to hear Hitomi's story.

"Long ago, not too long after Blackthorn City was given its name, there lived a young boy with two twin Dratini. The older Dratini's name was Ikari, while his sister's name was Miyuki. Both Dratini were quite equal in strength; however, while Ikari was a regular-colored Dratini, Miyuki was an unusual violet color."

"A violet Dratini?" I asked amazed, "Is that possible?"

"Why yes it is, Young Ritsu," Hitomi said smiling. "Pokémon that are a different color than usual are called 'Shiny Pokémon'. There's an old saying that if you come across a Shiny Pokémon and catch it, good things are more likely to come your way. Now back to the story: Once their trainer discovered Miyuki's unique color, he decided to show everyone in the city. But, while everyone was giving little Miyuki so much attention and adoration, her brother was feeling extremely left out. So, in order to get noticed, he began to train hard each and every morning until he finally evolved into a mighty Dragonair. Although his trainer was indeed amazed by the evolution, it wasn't enough to get himself noticed by the others who were still admiring his sister's elegant violet coat and her own physical strength; despite being not as strong as her brother. Overcome with envy and resent, Ikari unleashed his fury by destroying Blackthorn City and harming thousands. Miyuki desperately tried to step forward and console her brother, but he only responded by attacking her with a Dragon Rage attack. Although she was wounded, Miyuki refused to yield to Ikari's fury. When he attacked her again, she defended with Protect (taught to her by her trainer). No matter how hard Ikari tried to break his sister's shield, it was futile. Miyuki then evolved into Dragonair and dropped the Protect move to try and talk to Ikari. However, Ikari was still blinded by envy and once again attacked with Dragon Rage. Miyuki quickly countered with a Dragon Rage of her own. The blasts were at a stalemate for some time before Ikari eventually submitted to his sister's power. Rather than finishing her brother off, Miyuki simply calmed him down and presumbly told him that no matter how much attention a Shiny Pokémon would get, Ikari would always be special in his own way. Remorseful, Ikari sincerely apologized to his sister and they both used Rain Dance to put out the city's fire. Once the city was rebuilt, the citizens of Blackthorn also apologized to Ikari for ignoring him for Miyuki and promised to acknowledge his integrity as well. In order to do this, they threw the twins a festival to honor their unity called The Rising Twin Dragons Festival. And that, Young Ritsu, is the tale of the Twin Dragons."

"...Wow, that was such a great story, Miss Hitomi!" I beamed.

"I'm glad you think so, Ritsu!" Hitomi responded, "But, I don't think it's correct to call me 'Miss' since I have a husband and two great-grandchildren."

"Really? Who are they?"

"My darling husband Ryuusuke is what we call the Dragon Clan Elder, my lovely great-granddaughter Clair is the Gym Leader of the city, and my wonderful great-grandson Lance is the Champion of Johto!"

"Wait! D-Did you say Lance is your great-grandson?" I asked, blushing.

"Why yes, I did! Judging by the blush on your face, it seems like you know him."

"Y-Yes, I do know him. We both stopped Team Rocket from taking over Mahogany Town together..."

"Really?!" Hitomi exclaimed, "That's amazing! Although, it's quite an unusual idea of a date."

"D-Date?! No no, it's not like that!" I sputtered, "I-I mean... I really do him that way... Oops!" I quickly covered my mouth.

"There's no need to be embarassed, Ritsu," Hitomi insisted, "Besides, if you did end up with Lance, then I'd say he would have made a good choice!"

"Th-Thank you, Hitomi," I said, blushing again. "Well, I guess I'll be on my way! Oh wait, do you want your kimono back?"

"No no, dear, you can keep it! You look absolutely beautiful in it! Just go enjoy the festival's first day, okay?"

"Okay, thank you!"

Seeing that Manny was already out of his Pokéball, I decided to call out the rest of the team for some festival fun. Erin joined me in playing a game called Yo-Yo Tsuri, where the objective is to fish for rotating water balloons with a hooked paper string. While I wasn't very lucky enough to catch even one balloon, Erin actually managed to nab one with a Corsola print in less than ten seconds. Once her balloon was tied to the string (like a yo-yo), I decided to let her keep it since the balloon reminded her of Kairi. Then, I decided to take Louie to a game where you're supposed to pop as many air balloons as you can by throwing darts (there were even balloons covered in pretty glitter that were worth the most points). While Louie had poor throwing skills due to having no fingers, I ended up winning since I kept popping more glittery balloons than regular ones.

"I still think that was nothing more than sheer luck, Ritsu," Louie said.

"No way! I just have really good aim is all!" I giggled as I hugged my large Altaria plush doll.

Later that night, I decided to buy delicious chocolate-covered Nanab Berry snacks for my team (with the exception of Blaze who didn't like sweet foods).

"Wow, Ritsu!" Manny exclaimed as he bounced with excitement in my lap, "This chocolate Nanab Berry is delicious! I've never had anything like it! Oh man, the outside world is so wonderful!"

"Well, it sounds like someone's having quite some fun," a familiar voice said.

I looked up to see that the voice was coming from none other than Lance, who was wearing a dark violet yukata printed with fancy gray smoke clouds. I shyly nibbled on my portion of the chocolate Nanab Berry as I began to blush again.

"H-Hi, Lance," I greeted in a timid tone, "Fancy meeting you here!"

"Hello, Ritsu!" Lance responded, "Are you having as much fun as your Swinub?"

"Yes, I am actually!" I chirped.

I then noticed a blue haired woman wearing a navy blue kimono printed with miniature Deino. I was about to give her a friendly greeting, but the cold glare she was giving me quickly shut me up.

"Um Lance... your friend seems to be giving me quite a glare," I shuddered nervously, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No no, not at all, Ritsu!" Lance assured me, "And Clair's not my friend, she's my cousin!"

"Oh! Well, it's very nice to meet you, Miss Clair," I greeted as I held my open palm out, "My name is Ritsu."

"...Charmed," Clair said as she shook my hand, "And how do you know Clair's cousin?"

"Oh, um... I first met Lance at the Lake of Rage," I explained, blushing, "After I calmed down a shiny Gyarados, he complimented me on my battling skills and-"

"Wait a second!" Clair exclaimed, "You were the one who soothed the Red Gyarados?!"

"Yes, that was me, Miss Clair."

"Ha! You expect Clair to believe that? Look at you! You're so feeble looking and you don't look like you'd hurt a Beautifly!"

"Wh-What?" I gasped with a hurt look on my face, "I'm not feeble! I really did calm it down! Honest!"

"Again, ha! Clair doubts someone who barely even has a chest could pull off such a task!"

"B-But... but..." I whimpered as tears formed in my eyes.

"That's enough, Clair!" Lance angrily snapped as he harshly grabbed his rude cousin by her arm, "Leave Ritsu alone or else!"

"Oh come on, Lance! Are you telling Clair that a stupid little girl like her could have quelled that Red Gyarados? Look at her! She's simply pathetic!"

"ENOUGH, Clair!" Lance scolded with an intimidating glare. "You may not know this, but Ritsu's a very strong, kind, and loving trainer! She's already got seven out of the eight League badges! If you don't believe me now, then you just wait until she challenges you for the Rising Badge!"

"...Very well then," Clair sneered, "Clair will take your word for it for now, little girl. But mark Clair's words; when you challenge her Gym, let's see how 'strong' you are afterwards! When the festival is over, Clair will be waiting!"

After Clair stormed off in a huff, Lance gave me a handkerchief so I could dry my teary eyes. He then sat down next to me and sighed.

"Ritsu, I'm so so sorry for my cousin," Lance apologized, "To be honest, she's like that with anyone she thinks is strong enough to defeat her."

"So what the heck's that Clair chick's deal?" Blaze asked, "I was this close to burning that bitch's face off!"

"Well Blaze, Clair's kind of what we call a 'sore loser'," Lance responded, "Whenever someone beats her in a Gym Battle or even a friendly practice match, she always throws a tantrum and fires insults at whoever beat her. Truth is, she never used to act this way, and I don't know why she does it now."

"And what about the whole 'talking in the third person' thing?" Merida asked, "Has she always done that?"

"Yes actually," Lance answered, "She's been doing that since we were teens. She says that by not using personal pronouns, it makes her feel 'independent'. But honestly, I wish Clair would learn to lighten up on her challengers..."

"Don't worry, Lance!" I assured him, "Once I get some training done, I'll teach Clair a lesson! No matter the reason, bullying innocent challengers isn't right!"

"That's the spirit, Ritsu!" Lance exclaimed, "But, I'm afraid the Gym's closed until tomorrow morning when the festival's officially over, so you'll have to wait."

"Oh..."

"...But in the meantime, why don't you join me in watching the Closing Ceremony show?"

"Y-You want me to join you?!" I squeaked as my face turned pink again.

"Well of course, you don't act like a brat and storm off like Clair after all!" Lance chuckled as he reached his palm towards me. "So, what do you say?"

"I... I'd love to watch the show with you, Lance," I said, smiling as I put my palm in his.

The festival's Closing Ceremony was absolutely amazing. First, there was a fantastic reenactment of the story of Ikari and Miyuki using the Hyper Beam of a Dragonite and the Flamethrower of a Charizard as living puppets. Then, there was a mystical parade full of acrobats and even a giant Salemence puppet that breathed real fire. And finally, the festival closed with a fantastic display of fireworks in the shape of various Dragon-type Pokémon from every region.

"Thank you for watching the ceremony with me, Ritsu," Lance said smiling as we continued to watch the fireworks.

"It was no problem, Lance," I replied, "I had so much fun with you!"

"I had fun too," Lance remarked, "You really are a wonderful girl to be around!"

Smiling, my head unconsciously leaned against Lance's chest and I heard the sweet rhythm of his heartbeat ringing through my ear.

"Oh, are you getting tired, Ritsu?" Lance asked as his face began to turn a light shade of pink.

"Hmm? Oh!" I gasped, lifting my head from his chest. "Yeah... it is getting pretty late, so I guess I'll check into the Pokémon Center very soon!"

"Well, okay then! Goodnight to you, Ritsu!" Lance said as the last firework went off, "And good luck in your last Gym Battle!"

"Thanks and goodnight to you to, Lance!" I responded as I went into the Pokémon Center.

Once I checked into my room and changed into my pajamas, I called my team back to their Poké Balls for the night and reminisced on how wonderful spending time with Lance was tonight.

"Best festival ever..." I sighed dreamily as I drifted into a deep sleep.

* * *

**Pokémon obtained:** None.

**Deaths: **None.

**Boxed/Unboxed: **None.

* * *

**Author's Note:** If you're wondering why Clair speaks in the 3rd person, it's because I found out her Japanese name is Ibuki (as in Mioda)! Well, stay tuned for Chapter 26!


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